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Home › Articles › Breastfeeding › Full Exposure

Full Exposure

Is Your Breast Pump Worth It?

By Ann Calandro

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I don't think the baby store would have appreciated my help, so I am going to share with you some helpful hints about choosing a pump. You deserve to know. After all, if you need to pump, you need to pump right.

The Effective Pump
How often does a real baby suck? Oh, about 50 times a minute. And what kind of suck does a real baby do? A short, quick suck. How often do most of the little pumps on the market suck? Five times a minute. And what kind of suck do they do? A harsh, squishing, long, drawn-out suck. Very different!

After your baby is born, your body becomes accustomed to real baby suckling, which when done right is not painful. When an ineffective breast pump is used, your body gets very different sensations – pain, pinching and a totally different feel than your real baby. Often it is difficult for your body to recognize this pump as something it should allow to get that precious milk, so your body says, "NO WAY AM I LETTING DOWN!"

I often hear women say, "I couldn't get a drop of milk with my breast pump!" or "I pumped an hour and got a half an ounce!" These mothers sound so sad that they were pumping "failures." They thought it was their fault.

The Ineffective Pump
I am hopeful that someday all the pumps that don't work will be taken off the market. Honestly, if an electric razor just buzzed around and didn't cut hair, would it still be for sale? How about if it buzzed around, was painful to use and still didn't cut hair? Would you feel like a failure because your hair didn't come off when using the razor – or would you take the thing back, get a refund and write a letter to the company telling them how unhappy you were with their product? More letters need to be written about breast pumps.

Another tip: If you know of someone who has been injured by a faulty, poorly-made breast pump, please ask them to file a report to MedWatch at 800-FDA-1088 or via their Web site.


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