I just wanted to say that I don't think that your question was the least bit "dumb." I thought, rather, that it was an excellent question and one I have had myself on numerous occasions. I have had friends and clients offer to give me their old pumps to donate to women who might otherwise have no access to a pump. As we in the United States do not have a breastfeeding friendly society, as far as access to either maternity leave or onsite daycare for working mothers, I have often been  tempted to take these women up on their offer, figuring that the risk of contamination might be low compared to the risk of not being able to continue feeding when they return to work, if they can't afford a pump.Many women working for minimum wage could not possibly afford the elite models of the double electric pumps. I know that there are alternatives to  electric pumps for working women, for instance hand expression. I also know having been a working breastfeeding mother with a stressful job and only short amounts of time to express, that if someone offered me the choice between a used double electric from a healthy woman, versus hand expression that I would definitely pick the used pump in style, and use it for as long as the motor held out. Not only is it quick but it offers the ability to multitask, like eat a sandwhich and pump all at the same time. 

I have not taken these women up on their offers, becuase I am afraid of the responsibility of passing on a potentially problematic pump, but I have struggled with that decision, and wondered if there was some way to clean the old pumps to make them usable. It makes sense to me that the pump companies are not interested in exploring this possiblity because the more used pumps there are floating around out there, the less new pumps they can sell. I was thrilled to hear that someone is gathering them for the women of Afghanistan and now I know what to do next time someone offers me a pump.

It also seems to me, that if they were really interested in doing so, the pump companies could design a pump that metered how many hours it had been used for, so that women would know when they are in danger of the motor failing.Of course they don't want to do this, because they are in the business of selling new pumps, not helping save the planet or poor women. The age of a pump has nothing  to do with how often it was used. And one single user could burn out a pump motor if she used if for one or two children over many years, while another pump may be very old but have only been used sporadically by multiple users. So it seems to me the number of owners has nothing to do with how much the pump has been used.

I also agree that we all should feel free to ask any question of our colleagues without fearing the responses. What may appear black and white to one member of the list may appear all murky shades of grey to another, and I think we need to be open to that possibility and welcome the discourse. I have learned so much from all the women on this list by keeping an open mind and really trying to hear what they were saying or asking, even if my initial response was to think they were wrong.

Kumbaya :)
Kathy Lilleskov RN IBCLC

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