Hi All,

Some random comments on the "every mom needs a pump" thread.

1. Pumps are not necessarily evil, nor is hand expression necessarily
virtuous. Hand expression is no harder to accomplish than curling one's
hair with hot rollers. IMHO, if the baby can't nurse directly, ANY method
of collecting milk from the breast and getting it into the baby that WORKS
(and doesn't make the BF situation/potential worse) is fine with me. Rule
#1 is FEED THE BABY and breastmilk anyway you can get it is the #1 food.

2. In such a situation, everyone's focus should immediately shift to WHY
isn't this baby at breast or feeding effectively? THAT issue needs lots of
attention, as I've posted before. We should be shocked and alarmed when
anything prevents/discourages normal breastfeeding, and set our best
energies to the task of eliminating the causes (medical, social, etc) that
keep babies away from breast or compromise their ability to feed normally!
(read with passionate emphasis)

3. Formula competes with mother's milk. Pumps and bottles compete with the
mother-baby physical relationship. These are separate and important issues.
Just as mother's milk is the gold standard for 'infant food', direct
on-cue, responsive breastfeeding should be the gold standard for the
mother-infant relationship.

'Nuff for now.

Linda Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Dayton Ohio USA