Okay, I'm feeling a little cranky today, so take these comments in that vein. I got one of those big ol' new "hospital-grade" pumps too, along with the five kits to allow me to do the marketing research for Playtex on my time. A colleague got her box, as did the hospital where we both do contract IBCLC work. They sure are getting the pumps distributed. My colleague asked the Playtex folks how they expected five mothers to trial the pump when the box so clearly states that only one person is supposed to be using it. The stumped Customer Relations person said she'd have to "ask Corporate" for an answer. We are waiting for the reply. A few of us played with the pump. It is quite noisy, wheezing and rasping as you increase suction. The admittedly-cool-looking flanges crinkled and gargled as they worked to "plump" the nipples (I'm quoting the pamphlet here. I must have missed the study telling us nipples need to plump in order to transfer milk). We didn't have any moms around to ask to use it. Indeed, the Playtex materials say the pump is to be studied by mothers whose milk supplies are already well established ... and those moms are in short supply on the post-partum floor. Big flaw: the tubing comes out of the packaging kinked, and the suction power does NOT "iron it out." Only one out of three of us figured out why the pump didn't seem to be working at all .... we had to manually pinch about five kinks out before the machine started wheezing and gargling. Now, we work with pumps all day every day. What would a stressed post-partum mother do? The information materials are too heavy on the use of pictures of babies drinking from bottles to suit my taste ... although someone seems to have tried very hard to make the information WHO-Code-friendly. (Bottles aren't called bottles. They are "breast milk storage systems." And guess who just happens to have a breast milk storage system to sell you?) I might offer mine to an experienced pumping mom, to get at least one mom's view of how well it works, compared to a Medela or Hollister pump. If the pumps express the same, and they all sell for about $300 (!!), I don't think I'd choose this noisy model. The consumer advocate in me is a bit peeved with the packaging. It clearly states the pump cannot be returned once it is opened. Most moms will buy it, realize it is noisy (and maybe even lousy), but think they are stuck. I'm willing to bet most mothers don't understand that the USA's Uniform Commerical Code's warranty of merchantability would supercede the manufacturer's self-serving exclusions. (For those of you saying 'Huh?', that means: If you bought it, and it doesn't perform to the level you expected, you can still return it .... even if it is not broken.) I will give the design department a gold star: the black bag and its inner baglets are quite nice. Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC Wyndmoor, PA, USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html