When I tell mothers that babies are more efficient than pumps, it's under very specific circumstances - and one that is not unusual. It's the mother whose baby is breastfeeding beautifully, gaining and growing, and everything's fine. Then she decides to pump some milk for some reason - perhaps because she's away for a few hours, or she's planning to go somewhere, or someone has persuaded her that she needs to pump. Anyway, she tries it. Several times. And gets hardly any milk. 

This is when she calls me, panicking. If the amazing, powerful, efficient pump machinery can only get an ounce or two, then how can her baby be getting enough? Yes, he looks like he's okay, seems content - but she could only get an ounce with the pump. That's not enough! Should she supplement??

I find that most women believe that pumps are much more effective at getting milk out than babies, so if the pump only gets an ounce, then the baby is probably only getting half that. They worry. That's when I tell them that the baby (who is plump and happy and filing his diapers) is more efficient and not to judge their milk production by what they can get with the pump. 

Teresa Pitman

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