We have 14 pumps on trolleys. We LCs have our own vacuum gauge and we test
the pumps ourselves, both every few months and upon report by a mother of
poor function. We take them to Bio-Med for repairs on an as-needed basis.
We use a piece of tape on the end of each pump and write the low and high
suction levels for that pump. Often, the low is lower than recommended by
the mfg. but the high is in line with recommendations. We will choose a low
suction pump for a mom who is severely engorged so she has more control and
less/no pain.

As for cleaning, we sometimes clean them ourselves with a bottle of the
hospital's spray disinfectant, especially if the pump has been out on
another floor and is returning to postpartum. Or we ask housekeeping to go
through them all and wipe them down. We don't have it done after every mom,
but if we did, I think we would have to assign that job to a PCA. It's the
only way I can think of to keep up with the demand for pumps. We have about
500+ births a month.


--- Phyllis Adamson, IBCLC
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