Upset and angry about the negative way in which Gabrielle Palmer (politics of Breastfeeding) writes about expressing and breast pumps

[pigletmania]

Well that's it really. She views pumps as a money making machine, when really they are so useful and lifesaving. I may as well give up then and put ds on formula. Pumping has allowed my ds to have BM when before we had to resort to formula, due to difficulties in the initial stage. It's like she sees those who express BM for their babies as inferior than those who feed from the breast. For example she questions where the baby is while the mum is pumping when he should be getting bm from the breast not a mechanical pump. Errr asleep, or just amusing himself with noisy toys. I don't neglect him fgs!

I do put ds on the breast regularly but he does not suckle. I am happy that I am able to express my own milk for him, he is still getting human milk from me. She also goes on to say that milk from the pump is different from getting it from the breast, then at the end it says that there is no hard research to prove this. She then goes on to say that components of the pump can harbour bacteria and those babies who have expressed milk are more likely to become ill, we'll no different to ff then. I wash and sterilise the components of the pump that are able to

Instead of praising those who pump, she is very negative, I have been expressing for 3 months and I am p,eased that ds has had 3 months worth of BM. Thank god for my pump. There rant over
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I expressed exclusively for dd for 7 weeks and can't think why anyone would do it voluntarily. It was so much easier with the boys and I could just latch them on. Tbh the only really commercial promotion of pumps is in the US where maternity leave is only 6 weeks. Over here, it's more for the odd night out and I don't think pumps are pushed that much.

chipmonkey - I do parentcraft at the local ante-natal unit (well I have a table in the foyer with lots of PhillipsAvent stuff that the AN unit has and some knitted breasts) and the amount of mums that want to bf that are planning on pumping from day 1 so Dad can give bottles or even mums who are planning on EPing straight off the bat (usually planning on pumping 2 or 3 times a day because 'that will be enough right?' ) is amazing.

I would estimate 95% of women I talk to are planning on bfing to 'share the bonding' and almost all are planning on buying/have bought electric/double electric pumps, electric sterilisers, tonnes of bottles and are shocked when you say 'If you are planning on pumping so dad is going to give a bottle did you know you will probably need to express while baby has the bottle - your breasts won't realise that baby is having a bottle and will keep on making milk, etc, etc' as they think they will be able to pump two or three bottles worth so dad can do all the night feeds while they sleep and not wake up to two nuclear missiles strapped to their front and in a puddle! Nor do they know it may well lead to the end of bfing if they do this from day one (not in all cases though).

My pump meant I BF DD for another year when I had to go back to full-time work when she was 6 months old, and got to 18 months with DS too.

I didn't feel it was pushed at me; in fact, I found I had to actively seek out information about different brands/pumps etc. But hey ho.

OP, you've done brilliantly. Ignore the book, or the parts of it that rile you up at the moment.

Of course pumps are great if you have no choice but to go back to work soon after the birth (or indeed if you have a choice but want to go back quickly) but the point the PoB is making is that mothers shouldn't be being forced back to work by economic circumstance to the detriment of direct breastfeeding. Countries like Norway have mat leave for a year paid at 90% (I believe, no time to google! but it's certainly a treat compared to the UK and especially the US), so you wouldn't be forced to rely on a pump if every mother around the world had this protection.

And I second the point about hand expression. I watched the 'Bump to Breatsfeeding DVD before having DC1 and thought "blimey, I have to get a pump if I'm going to have any social life" because the mum they showed handexpressing was just getting drips out, not sprays and the presenter was going "Ooooh, that's fantastic" and I'm thinking you would be there all day trying to knock out enough for one feed.

Fast forward 3 years and I can happily run off a fair bit in the morning if the DCs have had an overnight at their grandparents so apart from the neonatal episode (for which I could have hired a pump), I might have managed without one had I had more confidence in it's effectiveness.

Thank you for all the positive vibes and support. Of course I did not envisage pumping exclusively when pg with ds, had this lovely bf ideal of ds suckling at my breast, but it did not work out like that . The only hard bit is the early morning pump, have to drag my tired weary body and attach to pump before Holden wake up.

Truth seriously? 2-3 times a day? I used to have to pump 8 times a day for dd, if I didn't, the supply would go down.

I pump 4 times a day and I formula in the night, so far my supply is good. But will up it to 5 once dd goes back to school from the hols. My dd has sn and I really don't have the time or energy to sit at that pump all fay

I usually produce 6-6.5floz per pump and one bottle of formula at night so I can rest

I have pumped for both my children. I think it a positive thing and I love using it.

It gives me extra sleep, allows me to have few glasses of wine, lets me leave baby with daddy so I can got to a meeting/get a pedicure, etc

It has helped me to love breastfeeding and not feel guilty if I leave my baby for a couple of hours because I know that if they get hungry, breast milk is there for them. In fact a few mums I know who didn't have a pump, ended up introducing formula much earlier than those who pumped...so whats wrong with that?

Of course expressing milk is a useful skill and an essential one if the baby is not bf directly....this is not what GP is on about.

She is talking about the insidious way it has been commodified, and the way this has made pumping into some sort of consumerist essential, because of the way mothers are presented with it as something easy and necessary to do in order for others 'to bond', or for them to get some sleep, and to breastfeed away from home so as not to embarrass other people :( :( :(

This is a million miles away from the individual mother's decision to use a pump to ensure her baby is getting breastmilk, when the direct route is not working/cannot work for whatever reason.

piglet, I feel certain GP would give you a hug and a big medal of congratulations and a genuine message of solidarity and support!

As has been said, PofB is not a parenting manual. Its aims are something very different.

Thanks tiktok I guess I took it the wrong way and it was after trying to get ds on the breast again. I just settled for him nuzzling at them and helps supply if he s near

Got milk dripping off them if only ds could suckle, it's rather that I then hv to pump it out instead of ds getting it out but hey ho. Like cheap has said its a way of life now and it's easier nw ds is older

Yup I have had some mums expecting to only have to pump 2 or 3 times a day (I think they are thinking of dairy cows that get milked twice a day), I do gently disabuse them of this though by explaining that most likely they will need to pump at least 8 times a day both sides. I had one mum when I said I pumped every 2 hours for 8 weeks before DD1 got bfing.....EPing is not a walk in the park really and truly.

I'm BF'ing DS and I'm quite a rarity here in New York, in that most women still breastfeeding at this point (7.5 months) pump exclusively, even if they stay at home. There's an odd belief that you need to express before you leave home, so that you have a bottle handy at the restaurant, library, museum, or wherever you're destined that day.

I do express once or twice a week, to give myself a bit of a break, but it's more of a nuisance than anything. (Props to my SIL, thoughand the countless women in this city under similar circumstanceswho had to return to work at eight weeks :( but managed to pump for nine and ten months, respectively.