Kathleen:
Where I live/work (large pediatric office), few moms seek the advice of an LC before buying a pump. They go to K-M**t or T*rg*t, and buy an inexpensive battery or plug-in pump to use when they return to work, or when they choose to give "a few" bottles. The hospital used to send all moms home with a M*d*la manual, but they no longer do that (gee, wonder why?? Maybe related to their new, exclusive relationship with the R*ss rep, supplying all of their non-natural baby-feeding hardware and fluids??) In any case, I get lots of calls from moms who are having trouble pumping - often weeks or even months down the line - and they have a poorly engineered pump, made by a bottle or ABM manufacturer. Most are quite reluctant to invest in another pump, even another fairly inexpensive one. They have a hard time believing that they will spend more on formula, as they begin to supplement more and more - they generally think they'd just better "try harder". (Kind of fits with the fact that they aren't about to spend money on an LC visit either - just the phone call, thanks.)
Frankly, I was pleased to see the new M*d*la "cheapie" (although I wish it were quite a bit cheaper!). I have no illusions that it will be their best pump, or that it will solve all problems. But I'd far prefer to see women pick up one of M*d*la's new Li**le H**rts pumps than an Ev*nfl*w. I agree that it would be super if we could deal with these issues in advance, but at least in my position, I get the problem calls only. Not much chance to head off problems beforehand. And although our hospitals have LCs, it is apparent to me that they, too, see only the crises and that they've had little impact on the general misinformation/conflicting information problem faced by new moms in regard to breastfeeding or parenting.
I'm open to education, though. Tell me more about what concerns you about this pump --and any suggestions you have for eliminating the "lousy pump" problem with this metropolitan working-class population!
Willow [log in to unmask]
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