Ilene says:
 

<<Medela  makes high quality pumps that DO serve many of our mothers well.
I hope we  don't put them out of business...where would that leave us   
when
trying to help a mother that NEEDS to  pump.>>
 
Ilene, I don't want to sound irreverent here (being Sunday and all -- or do  
I?) but Medela honestly does not need us or our business.  If all 9506  IBCLCs 
in the US took their business elsewhere -- assuming there was an  elsewhere 
to take it -- that would make barely a dent in their profit  margin.  IF Medela 
NEEDED us, you would be sure they would find a way to  conform to the Code.  
They don't, and that's that.  
 
When a pump rental/private practice lactation consultant needs to  put up 
$1500 in product purchase before they can get any Medela products -- do  they 
need us?  I don't think so.  How many of us have $1500 sitting  around under our 
mattresses that we can afford to do that?  In this  economic climate?  And how 
many can take out a small business loan any  more?  Or put it on a home 
equity?  I don't think so.
 
Back when I started in private practice and had a pump rental station,  
Medela cared about what I (and others like me) thought.  My Timothy was the  
impetus behind the "poor man's supplementer" which is what we called what became  
the starter SNS.  
 
Anyway, with over 5,000 delivering hospitals in the US, and most of them  not 
giving a flipping rip about the WHO Code, why would Medela need someone like  
me that has a pump rental station of 8 pumps?  (I don't have them any more,  
but did).
 
They make quality products.  I like their products, except for the  Symphony, 
but that's another tale for another time.  There is no question  about their 
good products.  
 
But no, they don't need us.
 
I'm keeping my eye on Hygeia, and wish the company well.  It's got  some 
great great people in the company -- many of whom are old friends from  ------ 
Medela.
 
 
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC, FILCA
Lactation Education  Consultants
_www.lactationeducation.com_ (http://www.lactationeducation.com/)  
**************Get a jump start on your taxes. Find a tax professional in your 
neighborhood today. 
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