Ok: I "heard" that there is a built-in obsolescence in the purchased pumps.
Rumor only, NOT confirmed, is that they last about 300 hours. So this "math
expert" ran some numbers:
At 15 min per session = 4 sessions per hour = 1200 sessions in those 300
hours. At 3 pump sessions per working day, 5 working days a week, mom can
get 80 weeks of pumping out of those 300 hours.

If mom begins pumping at 4 weeks after birth (2 weeks before the standard
return to work time for moms in the USA), and if she slowly tapers off as
baby starts eating other foods, she could make that pump last until the
second birthday of one baby, or the first birthday for two babies.

Don't these pumps retail at an average of $300.US? That's a dollar an hour
- cheaper than renting. But I think that pumps should last longer than
that. The cynic in me says this rumored wear-out time may be related to the
"USA standard 2.3 child household with dog and picket fence".

Or it could be related to the FDA ruling that these purchased pumps are
"single user only" and not to be resold or loaned out. If the pump is
"planned to die" after 300 hours' use, there is less of a motivation to
pass it on to your sister or neighbor, right?

But the FDA's stated reason is the risk of cross-contamination because milk
can get into the motor of SOME of these pumps, form a mold or dry up over
time & contaminate newly pumped milk when used again later. Well then, what
about the pump that stays in a closet for 2-3 years, then hauled out again
for use when baby #2 is born? Isn't that a problem for baby #2? Shouldn't
we then say mom must buy a new pump for each new baby because it's
impossible to properly clean out the (probably) contaminated or moldy motor?

Can someone who is experienced with purchased pumps straighten out my
faulty pump-conspiracy reasoning?
Thanks.
Phyllis
...who has been "planning" for a long time to rent pumps but hasn't signed
up with anyone yet...


--- Phyllis Adamson, IBCLC, RLC
--- Glendale, AZ, USA
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