Hi Marsha,
I am responding offlist.  I  began a new position on August 6 this year at a
hospital with a small "breastfeeding store".  At the two other places I have
worked as an LC, we did not do any retail.  In Austin, everything was
referred to the Durable Medical store, part of our network, but not a direct
responsibility.  We have Medela pumps in house, and rent only Medela through
the store.  They do sell Avent pumps in the store also.  I am not under the
impression that there is an exclusivity commitment, however.  If an inpatient
wants a pump, she can rent it in her room from the LC or educator on duty.
The patients seem very happy to have this service.  We do give everyone a
list of places in the area to rent from, I feel compelled to say "you are
under no obligation to rent from us".  They rent from us 99%of the time.  We
have a NICU, some very active infertility docs, with lots of twins.  We keep
120 pumps, over a 100 are always out.
The store sells lots of breastfeeding stuff, pumps, shields, shells etc.,
Lansinoh, along with several lines of nursing bras, nightgowns,
shirts,pillows,stools
and even those silly nursing coverups.  They also sell lots of cute stuff,
blankets, and stuffed toys,dolls, photoalbums, books, fenugreek and blessed
thistle, and Burt's Bee products, and other fun things.  The store always has
an IBCLC, as we also do free wt checks, and some outpatient consultations
there.
What I do not know is how involved Medela was in the set up of the store,
I am under the impression that they did not direct much.
The store is very successful, enough that the profits are paying for
additional floor staff, ME yeah!!!
I hope this helps,
Lu Bush
RNC,IBCLC
Plano, TX

On Tuesday 09 October 2001 09:50 am, Glass, Marsha wrote:
> I have a question for those who work in hospitals that have shops or
> boutiques that sell breastfeeding items.  Our hospital system is doing the
> groundwork for such a shop that has come up because we are a high risk
> referral hospital and needed a way to rent pumps to moms with babies in our
> NICU.  We had a couple of nurses who were doing it just as a service, but
> there is a conflict of interest issue there, so this is how it is being
> resolved.  The vision for this shop will eventually extend well beyond
> breastfeeding items, but for now, just to get it up and running in the
> interim, we are curious  what other hospitals do.  There is one pump
> company offering to set everything up for us, which is attractive to some
> in management, but they would require exclusivity of their products (which
> is not what we are currently using in-house BTW) and some of us are not
> comfortable with that.  My questions are:
> 1) Do you use pumps/products from more than one company?
> 2) Did you set up the shop yourself or get help from a company to do so?
> 3) How do you feel about the programs offered by the pump companies for
> retail?
> 4) How do other hospitals handle this issue of renting pumps to moms in
> house who need them?
>
> Personally, I am reluctant to go with one company because, a) that limits
> the product you can offer; b) it feels like you're promoting some company's
> product instead of merely offering it.  This company offers trips to see
> other shops and refuses to give details until you sign on the bottom line
> and that feels too much like selling yourself to the highest bidder to me.
> It would help if we could give administration some idea of how other places
> handle this.  Some of us are also wrestling with the idea that offering all
> this stuff encourages the notion that you have to have gadgets to
> breastfeed, but are balancing that with the reality that moms are bombarded
> with this stuff anyway. How have some of you dealt with this issue?  Any
> ideas would be welcome?
> TIA!
> Marsha
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC
> Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future
> generations as all other earthly causes combined.
> John S. C. Abbot
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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