I'm sorry to harp on this, but I have to ask myself what a breast pump
company has to gain by their recommendations and warnings.  I think we all
need to remember that pump companies are also out to make a profit and their
profit is reduced quite a bit when mother's share pumps.  Not to say that
there is no risk, but I still think we need to keep the profit motivation in
mind when dealing with corporations and when listening to their
recommendations.

As to risk...
We are concerned that a virus, mold, etc may be lurking on the motor of the
pump so that if a different mother uses that pump she can be contaminated,
right?  I'm not certain how long the HIV virus can last on a dry surface,
but I don't believe it is very long.  Hepatitis can live 7 days I believe,
so there is more risk from that than HIV.  What about molds?  Fungi?  If the
machine is designed to produce a vacuum pressure, how would a virus
(assuming there is still any live virus) or mold or fungi travel back up the
tube?  I'm asking this seriously.  Does anyone know?  Have there actually
been any documented cases of cross contamination with single user breast
pumps?  If not, then we are talking a theoretical risk here, right?   And
who crys the loudest about this risk?  The pump company?  Who has a vested
interest in selling more pumps?  I'm just thinking that the lactation
community might want to step back here and look for the actual evidence that
there is a problem, before taking an industry's (even if it is a supposedly
breastfeeding friendly industry) word that there is a problem.  Would it
make a difference if a pump has not been used in a year vs a week before
being *shared*?  I don't hear anyone asking these questions, I just hear the
same quotes from the same source, the pump company.

I'm also asking that we consider relative risks when making *rules*
regarding sharing pumps.  Certainly if there is an alternative we should use
it, since there *is* a risk, even if theoretical.  Yet, if there is no
alternative, or if the mother chooses to use a second-hand pump even knowing
about the risk, then we need to remember that it is the mother's decision,
just as it is the mother's decision on how to feed her baby in the first
place.  And this applies even if there *is* a documented
cross-contamination.  There is still relative risk to consider, just as in
medications.

The risk of formula use has been documented over and over. Yet a hospital
will give formula with little thought to risk and will certainly *not*
inform the mother of any risk.  And at the same time they will quote the
pump company's risk statements regarding using second hand pumps.  That
makes me ill.

Regards,
Cindi Swisher, RN, IBCLC
Colorado Springs, CO

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