I don't even know if Medela is company with shareholders, but they are a
business and businesses, unlike charities, have an obligation to let all
decisions be guided by how they will affect the bottom line, or profit, as
hardboiled cynics like myself refer to it.

If a pump company only makes its products available through special
businesses aimed at breastfeeding mothers, or through professionals who work
with breastfeeding mothers, they only reach that segment of the potential
market who are already breastfeeding.  If the products are placed in
something as mainstream as Babies R Us, they reach much more of the market
and they will likely move more pumps.  How many mothers does any private
practice LC see in a year?  What fraction of the customers at Babies R Us
ever seeks care from a private practice LC?   If it's ten percent, then the
pump company will increase its exposure by a factor of ten and that's a
business opportunity it would be negligent to ignore.  If the percentage is
lower, then the potential gain is correspondingly higher.

Manufacturers would be fools indeed to neglect the opportunity to place
products where for every person who already knows what they are for is for,
there will be maybe eight or ten others who haven't got a clue.  Breastpumps
are not a prescription item, subject to the laws on dispensing prescription
medications, for example.  They are freely available to anyone who can fork
over the requisite sum to buy or rent one.  There is no requirement that the
vendor or supplier be able to show someone how to use it as long as there
are instructions included with the item.  Babies R Us are not to blame for
that.  I have no idea what role, if any, pump companies have played in the
design of consumer protection legislation in the US.  My guess is it's very
very small.

Another group who are not to blame are the employees at Babies R Us. The
decision to ally themselves with a pump company for the mutual gain of both
parties was not taken by the twenty year old salesperson in the store, who
already has enough on their plate without being expected to know more than
most maternity care staff do about breastfeeding.  The management of Babies
R Us have the same obligation as any other business, to make money. Anything
that furthers that end without breaking the law will be tried.

It seems almost odd that some of us managed to breastfeed our babies
exclusively for six months and go on to breastfeed them til they weaned on
their own, without using a pump, or bottles, even when we were regularly
separated from those children for long stretches of time when they were well
under a year, all this without even being shown by maternity care staff how
to breastfeed in accordance with ISO standards.  Then again, maybe it isn't
odd at all.  Maybe breastfeeding isn't meant to be like learning to use
contact lenses or how to floss correctly. Maybe it's meant to be more like
lovemaking, and birth - works best in privacy without regard to clock time,
in a climate of emotional safety, with someone present who really cares how
it is for you.

If enough people raise their voices who feel strongly that pumps should only
be available to consumers in conjunction with professional help from someone
expert at breastfeeding guidance AND pump use and maintenance then perhaps
there would be hope for getting a section into whatever law pertains to
product safety.  Unless such voices include many people without financial
interest in the matter, I  hope legislators would have a healthy portion of
skepticism.  I am not advocating such a move myself because I disagree,
feeling that Barbara Wilson-Clay's stance was a good one.  Maybe the weaning
we should be concerned about is our own, off of dependence on income from
pump rentals or sales when what we really set out to do was work with
BREASTFEEDING.  

             ***********************************************

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