Let Freedom Ring…Wearable Pumps: Dreams vs. Realities

It was just Independence Day here in the US. 
Pumping people are demanding independence, too.
We want freedom.
Freedom to pump without being tethered to the wall, tethered even to a tube leading to a pump.  The people demand wearable pumps.

Unsurprisingly, as capitalism is strong here, the breastpump industry is meeting that demand by making more and more wearable pumps (almost weekly, it seems). Parents are enthusiastic. Social media is filled with parents showing the world how much milk they just made, as they show us what it’s like to pull a wearable pump carefully out from under their shirt—full of milk.

Pump companies do what any company does: claim their pumps are the best. The phrase “hospital-grade” gets thrown around. Unfortunately, that’s a marketing term that actually means technically nothing.

Let’s think about this, though. It’s a lot less likely that someone who yield’s a small amount of milk is going to post on social media. Therefore, what parents see on social media is skewed to highlight those who make a lot of milk.  Then the algorithm sees that they lingered on that video and serves up more videos of more people showing off milk-filled wearable pumps. Ha-ha, it’s like an “only fans” for parents…oooh, how much milk did she get today? Let me look. Oh wait, there’s another one…

Then there is the expected downward spiral...

“But I don’t make that much milk with my wearable…what am I doing wrong?”

“Maybe I don’t have the right one. Cool, there’s a discount code, I’ll go buy that one for $279.”

“Oh, that didn’t work. I’ll buy some herbs and drink more coconut water.”

“I’ll wait and see if that works (8 weeks) and maybe call a lactation consultant. Or maybe they saw “a lactation consultant” and were told to use 24mm flanges, keep power-pumping, and start triple feeding.

None of this is sustainable, nor what we want for parents.

There are, of course, always going to be people who have low milk supply, no matter what they try. But what is sad, is that too many are using wearables as their primary pump.

There are a few important things to know about wearables:

• the flange size matters
• the flange material matters
• the flange shape matters
• the cycle speeds the pump offers matter
• the vacuum power the pump offers matters

Don’t get me started on the heat and vibration/massage options that are now available—those are put on the market without any research to determine if putting heat, vibration, or massage on a breast for up to 30 minutes at a time while pumping is even safe for a breast…which is a gland AND an organ. We don’t put heat, vibration, or massage on other glands and organs, do we? (Are you blushing yet? Yes, sure, some people do use heat, vibration, and massage on a couple certain organs, but those aren’t prone to cancer like a breast is.)

Ultimately, I absolutely have some clients who do well with wearables. That’s great, I am glad it works for them. I do caution them to watch for breast inflammation (otherwise known as “plugged ducts”) and reduced milk yield. We do a flange fitting with a “regular” or “tabletop” or “primary” pump first and then try different types of silicone inserts with a 24mm hard flange first…let’s see what works best there. Then we look at the shape of the wearables they are interested in…and the cycle speeds.  Yes, it can get complicated…but the first step is knowing which size and shape of flange works best…then we can expand our search into which wearable might be similar.

What concerns do you have with wearables?

What do you tell your clients about choosing them?