Greetings..... Marsha asked to hear from those of us who run a Mother-Baby Store in the hospital setting. We opened our little store in July, 2001. The space we occupy was an office near the elevators on the Mother-Baby Unit. We worked with Medela and accepted their expertise and input in getting things set up for the store. In return, we only sell Medela pumps. Since these are the only pumps sold or rented in our town, I had no problem with this set-up. We sell several kinds of nursing bras (not just Medela), pumps, nursing pads, soothies, preemie diapers, preemie clothes,slings. We have had no pressure in any way from Medela... just needed to agree to sell only Medela pumps. We also rent pumps to Moms who come in from the outside or to Moms who need them as they're going home from the hospital. I don't find this set-up problematic because I am open and honest with Moms on whether I believe they need a pump or not. I am not a "gadget guru", so I hesitate to recommend anything that isn't absolutely necessary. But, if a Mother could really benefit from the use of Soothies, I'll mention them as an option. I've not run into a situation where I felt I was faced with a conflict of interest. The store offers a nice service selling hard to find items for the new Mom and her baby. We're also hoping to expand into a Woman's shop selling items for women through the lifespan. Susan Reulbach Wirtjes RN IBCLC in Waterloo, Iowa "What you permit, you promote." *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html