Sandy, I couldn't agree with you more. Accurate
product information/labeling is desperately needed.
And we, as LCs, need to keep working out what is our
role in this rapidly changing area.

The phenomenal growth of "breastfeeding products"
in the past few years has ridden on the backs of
Lactation Consultants. Our expertise and professional
credibility has opened the doors (more like flood gates)
for companies to expand their product lines -- and to
the detriment (in my not so humble opinion) of support
for breastfeeding. A few years ago I considered a
quality breastpump a tool that could allow a woman to
maintain lactation during a crisis, or compensate for
separations from the baby (return to employment or
school). I have endorsed the products from these
companies in my professional role. The proliferation of
products from even the "best" companies now
undermines my (our) efforts.

These days I spend as much time discouraging
women from casual use of breastpumps, picking up
the pieces when they have purchased the wrong
pump, and explaining why they don't need to spend
more money on accessories, as I do assisting women
with breastfeeding.  So-called "breastfeeding
products" are making breastfeeding as fraught with
consumerism as "that other stuff."  I mean, did you
ever imagine that breastfeeding women would feel
driven to obtain bottles, nipples and pumps (to make
breastfeeding *easier*), "pumping bras," scales (*to
take the worry out of breastfeeding*) pillows, pads,
stools... Not that some of these things aren't great
accessories, but they are, after all, accessories. I find
that women who are having problems with bf often
blame the lack of these accessories ("I don't have the
right pillow..."). Gee whiz -- how did our forebears do
this without all the gimcracks, bells and whistles?

Increasingly, I am finding breastfeeding women facing
the same catastrophic problems (losing supply, baby
refusing breast) once associated only with women
who were seduced into casual use of formula. Now
they are seduced into "breastfeeding technology." And
I, as an agent for a large pump company (the health
center I work for rents pumps) am feeling very
uncomfortable, indeed. I don't stock all the
accessories, but the entire catalog is included with
every pump kit -- even those items I think are silly or
detrimental. And I criticize health care providers who
hand out various junk from formula companies! :-(

Margery Wilson, IBCLC
Cambridge, MA