I have been reading all the posts about why "we" chose to breastfeed.
Here's my story.  I had my first baby in 1976 when I was still in college at
UCI.  I was lucky enough to live next door to a LLL leader by the name of
Nancy Richman. She had a son named Joel who was still occasionally nursing
at age four.
I decided to breastfeed because of Nancy.  She was my first "grown up"
friend and I really respected and admired her.  She also introduced me to
the world of midwives and home births.  As a result of her postive
influence, I successfully nursed my first baby to the age of 23 months.
Baby #2, #3 and #4 were all delivered at home with midwives and I nursed
them all for 22-24 months.  Surprisingly, baby #4 gave me the most
difficulty with terribly sore, bleeding nipples, 3 cases of mastitis and
persistent thrush.  Through it all, I knew that I didn't want to give
up...mainly because I found breastfeeding to be FUN.  (A word not often used
in conjunction with breastfeeding...)
With baby #3, I had to return to work 3 weeks after delivery.  I used the
recommended pumps, the "cadillacs" as they referred to them, and began to
lose my milk about two weeks after returning to work.  I consulted with some
breastfeeding consultants in Vancouver, BC who told me that it must be
"stress" that was inhibiting my milk supply. But, I noticed that after
pumping, I would have a "donut" of engorgement around the outer perimeter of
my breasts.  I didn't feel like I was emptying completely. Using my research
background in Developmental and Cell Biology, I was able to get access to
ultrasound studies of nursing babies and designed and built my own breast
pump, using a soft, pliable breast shield and a suction unit.  I was able to
bring my milk back within five days.  I continued to use my invention
throughout the next two years of nursing and working.  I also made some
extra units and lent them to other working women (who were obviously under
too much stress, too).  When I had baby #4, I decided to work on the pump
project full time, put the device through FDA, got the project funded and
started my company..White River Concepts.  That was 12 years ago. I started
the company so that I could be home with my kids when they were little.
Until 1988, the company was in the basement of my house.
Necessity is truly the mother of invention.  I owe a big thank you to Nancy
Richman...wherever she may be. Thanks in part to her, I have four healthy,
beautiful, brilliant children...ages ranging from 12 to 20.
My thanks and blessings to all the nurses and lactation consultants who
decided to try my products for themselves instead of believing all the
rumors that were circulated about our pumps not being safe.  Thankfully,
that chapter is behind us now and is it now known that there never was any
problems with our products at all. (I also would like to extend forgiveness
to everyone who repeated those rumors--not realizing how untrue and
destructive they were.) Keep up the great work...it's obvious that
everyone's heart is in the right place.
Elena Medo, Founder and President
White River Concepts
924 Calle Negocio
San Clemente, CA 92672
800-824-6351 http://www.whiteriver.com