To Jan's assertion that it is unethical to give out pump station info or
speak to a "captive" audience in prenatal bf class...consider this.  My local
hospital does give out all pump stations in 50 mile area on printed
literature but has only one station come to classes.  The one that previously
came was a home health agency. The speaker had never breastfed and had no
training; she was a respiratory therapist.  Moms who got pumps from that
station were not (and are still not) even shown how to set up the kit...quite
literally the thing was slid across the counter in exchange for mom's fee.
 No instruction and don't even think there was any support vis a vis
workplace pumping how-to's, engorgement, low supply etc etc.  Now that same
hospital bf class has an "individual" pump station come in...one who has
firsthand knowledge of bf and pumping and is available 7 days a week and will
go to no lengths to support mom.  Now tell me, is the fact that these
*captive* moms are being taught about pumps unethical or is it the
*unethical* service that they get when they patronize certain pump stations?
 Moms who get pump info in class are way ahead of the game  versus their
colleagues who are throwing a bicycle pump into the shopping cart.  So are
you thinking the class instructor should do all the pump instruction?  Very
unrealistic.  Not only should they not be expected to learn every pump and
accessory, they are not going to have adequate inventory to demonstrate
(unless they are a pump station also).  So what are we really saying here?
 That moms should *only* be given a list of phone numbers within a 50 mile
radius?  If it were your sister or daughter or friend, would you feel good
about the chances she'd have of just happening upon  the *supportive* station
over the *non-supportive* one as she looked at the list of unfamiliar phone
numbers???  I feel the rumblings of some pump station bashing here...MANY of
us are just as committed to bf success as those of you who have initials
behind your name and work in a clinical setting.  The breastfeeding success
story is often a chain...educated mom, supportive household, knowledgeable
caregivers AND pump stations who know how to match mom with the right kind of
pump (or SNS  etc etc) for the mother baby dyad *and* who provide that
priceless *hang in there* pep talk before those nipples start to heal etc.
 If *one* of the ways in which moms are educated about pumps is through
quality pump stations speaking at prenatal bf classes is unethical, then call
me thusly.

Tammy Gharbi, [log in to unmask]