<<I have seen many babies SAVED by breastpumps, as prematures our Medela
pumps allowed their moms to continue producing adequate amts. of milk.

Sorry, I just to not understand persecuting someone who is just doing what
they can to help breastfeeding mothers, as all of us are!

Pam>>

I agree, there are many babies who are saved by pumps. But, advertising
(especially direct to mothers/consumers) creates the impression that one
MUST have the product in order to have a normal experience. When my eldest
was born, 20 years ago, I thought I MUST have a pump (even though I was a
stay home mom) and that my son MUST have a pacifier. 

It wasn't until my second was born that I finally realized that babies
didn't *have to* have a pacifier - they were well-marketed, and seemed to be
a necessary item for my first, but after that, we never used one. I still
had my old hand pump, but it was never used, because I became proficient at
the sling, and didn't worry about nursing my baby in public.

While it is a good thought that these companies shouldn't market in 3rd
world countries, remember what damage the pump/formula/bottle mindsets did
for people displaced in the US (a "safe," industrialized world) during
Hurricanes Andrew, Ivan, Katrina - No water, no electricity, no homes, but
plenty of photos of parents discharged from flooded maternity wards with
bottles in baby mouths. Yes, the US isn't supposed to be a 3rd world
country, but in many instances of natural disasters, we are all at the mercy
of nature. The affluent are not immune, food supplies run out, water becomes
contaminated, and here we are, all stuck in the mentality that one must have
a pump to have a normal breastfeeding experience. (or formula to have a
normal parenting experience.)

We never really got good information about how many babies got sick and died
during the aftermaths of these storms, and it would be an interesting study.
Certainly it would paint a picture many of us would like to forget. 

Advertising creates the norm. It takes away shock value, and makes the
abnormal out to be normal. We become desensitized. Once this happens, the
media can do whatever it wants, because nobody understands the distinction
between normal and abnormal.

Best wishes,
Sam Doak

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