Used Breast Pumps - Milking Michelle

As a vegan who enjoys explaining to people how cows (left to their own devices) don't need to be milked and we're the only species that drinks other animals' milk after weening, Michelle was a little apprehensive about introducing any type of dairy pumping mechanism into our lives. Luckily her apprehension about having to give up her 8+ hours of sleep every night for a year - and Danny wanting to help with night feedings - got her thinking that maybe being milked by an electronic device is not all that bad.

Plus, both of us are VERY committed to breastfeeding (there are some rumors that Danny's brothers - both Harvard grads - were breastfed for 2.5 years...and his mom is not a hippie). Regardless, there are still numerous benefits to breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months and then continuing along with other food at least up to a year, so we're going to try to do it.

Plus, Michelle had a lot of food intolerances as a baby (including cow and goat milk, soy and sugars), and it seems like one of the most basic ways to “go simple” when it comes to raising a child without unnecessary purchases is to feed'em with what nature gave us.

So why even talk about breast pumps?

A few reasons:

Number 1, as we mentioned above, we would like to have Danny involved in the feeding and nourishment of the baby. Not only from a general bonding standpoint (we’re going to ignore the concept of male lactation for the moment – but check out this article by Jared Diamond, professor, scientist and author of Guns, Germs and Steel), but also from a practical and useful perspective. If Michelle is able to pump, Danny can do some middle of the night feedings; and he can take the baby on a walk and have a food supply on hand.

Number 2, same goes for the grandparents-to-be and other friends and family (and maybe caregivers down the line).

Number 3, breast pumps can be useful to help facilitate regular breastfeeding or to enable a baby to have better access to breast milk. Breast pumps can be used to stimulate lactation for women with low milk supply or to relieve engorgement (which is not only painful, but can prevent proper latching on). If a baby is having trouble latching, pumping can facilitate break milk consumption via a bottle. Having a supply of breast milk on hand and a baby that can take a bottle is also useful if a mom needs to take medication that affects breast milk (in which case she can “pump and dump” to keep up her supply) or has a temporary low supply (possibly due to medication, dehydration, etc ).

Number 4, things may change and if a bottle isn’t introduced early enough, some babies won’t take one (or will only take one after hours of crying...). The timing of when to introduce a bottle seems to vary from between 4-6 weeks or 8-10 weeks, but the general consensus seems to be 1-2 weeks before a period of separation (like returning to work) is needed and ideally not before 2 weeks but sooner than 2.5 months or so is best.

So, now that we’ve established that pumping may very well be useful – when/if/how to acquire a used pump or borrow a pump?

In most cases, for at least the first few weeks, a pump is not needed, so we don't think it's necessary to have one on hand before the baby arrives. If milk production becomes an issue and pumping is recommended a rental pump can quickly be acquired. In many ways this is ideal as it would enable us to check out a brand or two before making a larger commitment (and this way our midwives won't look at us with that look - "the best pump is your baby").

But should a pump be borrowed? What are the health and financial implications of used pumps?

Basically, there are closed system pumps (hospital grade) and open system pumps (regular purchase) and, to avoid the accidental transmission on HIV, Hepatitis and Cytomegalovirus, only closed system/hospital grade pumps are safe to borrow/rent/share.

Hospital grade pumps in New York rent for about $70-$80/month or $180-$210 for 3 months plus the purchase of the necessary accessories ($45-60) and regular (open system) pumps cost between $35 (manual) and $350 (automatic). Medela (a favorite of a lot of people – especially the Classic and the Lectina) has an interactive website to search for rental agents in your neighborhood.

That said, if someone (like us) is interested in pumping for up to a year, it doesn’t make a lot of economic sense to rent a hospital grade pump and borrowing them is hard (we don’t know anyone who owns one that isn’t a rental agent). Therefore, if we need it, it might make sense to buy a used hospital grade pump (hard to trust its condition and where it came from), or to (yikes!) buy a new one and then resell it after we’re done.

A quick glance at Froogle indicates that there are quite a few used Medela hospital grade pumps out there for about $300 each – (and a few Ameda Elite, but these are not on the FDA approved list) so we think we’ll probably just hang tight - see what happens when the little guy comes out - and know that we can buy one if/when the time comes.

We’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile – a few resources:

According to the Food and Drug Administration:
“You should never buy a used breast pump or share a breast pump.
Only FDA cleared, hospital-grade pumps should be used by more than one person. With the exception of hospital-grade pumps, the FDA considers breast pumps single-use devices. That means that a breast pump should only be used by one woman because there is no way to guarantee the pump can be cleaned and disinfected between uses by different women.

The money you may save by buying a used pump is not worth the health risks to you or your baby. Breast pumps that are reused by different mothers can carry infectious diseases, such as HIV or hepatitis.

Buying a used breast pump or sharing a breast pump may be a violation of the manufacturer’s warranty and you may not be able to get help from the manufacturer if you have a problem with the pump.”

Here is a great overview of the health issues around used breast pumps, as well as a list of FDA approved breast pumps for multiple users and statements by various hospital grade pump producers on used breast pumps.

In addition, here is the consumer reports report on pumps in general, a great review of various breast pumps, and an overview of hospital grade pumps.