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Breast May Be Best, But Pumps Get All the Attention

Companies praised for allowing women to pump ... but contact has no substitute

By Sarah Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 12, 2009 3:54 PM CST
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(Newser) – The push for regulations that give US moms a place and time to pump their breast milk overlooks a major part of the age-old breast-feeding debate, Jill Lepore writes in the New Yorker. “Is it the mother, or her milk, that matters more to the baby?” Lepore asks. High-tech pumps and office “lactation rooms” promote a woman’s right to work more than anything else, she argues.

If encouraging breast-feeding is the goal, we should address the real obstacles: limited maternity leave and few workplace day-care centers. “Something you plug into a wall socket is a far cry from a whisper and a kiss,” Lepore writes. Regardless, the tide is likely to turn again: Breast-feeding has come in and out of fashion for centuries.

Jessica Salazar holds twins Matias, left, and Josue, as they take part in a breastfeeding contest in Lima, Peru, Aug. 26, 2008.
Jessica Salazar holds twins Matias, left, and Josue, as they take part in a breastfeeding contest in Lima, Peru, Aug. 26, 2008.   (AP Photo)
In 2007, a judge ruled that Sophie Currier could not have extra break time during her nine-hour medical licensing exam so that she could pump breast milk to feed her infant daughter.
In 2007, a judge ruled that Sophie Currier could not have extra break time during her nine-hour medical licensing exam so that she could pump breast milk to feed her infant daughter.   (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
More than 500 mothers breastfeed their children during the Second Synchronized Breastfeeding Worldwide, Oct. 11, 2008, in Marikina City, Philippines.
More than 500 mothers breastfeed their children during the Second Synchronized Breastfeeding Worldwide, Oct. 11, 2008, in Marikina City, Philippines.   (AP Photo)
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Lifestyle • Science • US

 
baby bottle • baby • breast feeding • breast milk • working mothers • maternity leave • breast pump

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