Right on, Lynn: Hand expression is the way to go! I have previously posted on this, making the same observations you came up with. Women in the rest of the world hand express for their babies (including SCN babies) and do so quite well, thank you. Those of you who live outside the US may agree or disagree but I recently read somewhere (can't quite remember where, but I was bottlefed, so...) that US babies have 96% of the neonatal technology that is available thruout the world today available to them. By technology, I mean things like incubators, warmers, etc. Much of the rest of the world "gets by" on Kangaroo care, rooming-in, mothers having to hand express their milk for their preemie babies, etc. When did we get so hung up on technology? This "I have to have the latest, most expensive, best, fill-in-the-blank gadget" is truly what is driving down the duration rate of breastfeeding. I think we're headed down the same path as formula usage. As US technology spreads thruout the rest of the world, I believe we will see a corresponding drop in breastfeeding duration rates, such as is currently being seen here in the US. I run a very popular support group for breastfeeding moms and none of these women use a pump more often than absolutely necessary (some of them work outside the home) and all of them make it to at least the 1 year mark. Intersting concept for a study, perhaps? By the way, I hand expressed milk for all 3 of my children while working full-time. I also teach hand-expression to the mothers I work with. Every few months or so, I will teach hand-expression in the support group using a willing mom and they are always amazed at how far she is capable of squirting (in public, no less!). And of course, some of you will remember my UCLA lectures presented during the times I was actively nursing and demonstrating hand-expression using myself in front of 40 students! Pam Hirsch, RN,BSN,CLC Clinical Lead, Lactation Services Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Barrington, IL USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html