Breast pump

It has long been known that breast feeding is the most desirable form of nourishment for infants. It is also well known that prepared formulas, while acceptable, are inadequate substitutes for a mother’s natural milk. Mother’s milk is indispensable for growing up a baby. Artificial milk can be also fed to a baby instead of mothers’s milk. But it is generally proved that a breast-fed baby and a bottle-fed baby are different in their resisting power to disease, that is, the former is stronger than the latter. Breast milk is uniquely adapted to the nutritional requirements of an infant and is distinctly superior to any substitute which has been devised by nutritional scientists. Additionally, breast milk is free of the hazards associated with artifical feeding, characterized in disadvantaged societies particularly by malnutrition and gastroenteritis, and in affluent societies by obesity, allergic disorders, and metabolic derangements including tetany and hyper-osmolar dehydration. Breast milk and, more particularly, colostrum has been found to contribute directly to the infant’s immunological adaption to extrauterine life. Colostrum is the thin, milky fluid secreted by the mammary gland a few days before or after parturition. Many experts and mothers believe that numerous immunological and nutritional advantages are provided by breast milk. Because of the benefits of breastfeeding, numerous breast pump devices have been developed which extract milk from a mother’s breast for subsequent use when it is inconvenient for the mother to breastfeed the infant.

Breast pumps are used for aspirating and storing mother’s milk, so that a baby can also be fed with natural mother’s milk when its mother is absent. Such devices have a funnel-shaped breast body, which is connected via a suction body and a suction line with a manually or electrically operated suction pump. Breast pumps are convenient for nursing mothers who require extracting their breast milk by artificial means which can be stored and later fed to the baby. The most usual way in which to give an infant mother’s milk is to let the infant suck directly from the breast. However, there are a number of cases where it is not appropriate or possible to allow the infant to suck straight from the breast. Breast pumps are required when the child has suckling difficulties, in the case of hypogalactia or hypergalactia, in the case of problematic breasts or breasts sore from suction, when the mother or child is temporarily ill and finally when the mother does not have or doesn’t always have the necessary time for feeding. Breast pumps of various designs have been known since early in the twentieth century and a large number of patents relating to that subject matter have issued since. Common features of such devices are a generally flared member adapted to encompass the nipple region of a mother’s breast, a source of cyclic sub-atmospheric pressure, and milk collecting means usually in the form of a bottle. Breast pumps systems use either electric or mechanical means for creating vacuum to aid in breast milk expression. Both types conventionally have funnel portions that are held against a woman’s breast to both introduce the vacuum to the nipples and to catch the expressed breast milk. The vacuum draws breast milk from a nipple through the funnel portion to a breast milk container for subsequent use.

Breast pumps generally comprise a hood, or shield, that fits over the breast, a vacuum pump connected to the shield for generating an intermittent vacuum (i.e., negative pressure) within the shield, and a receptacle for the expressed milk. The intermittent suction action of the vacuum within the shield serves to pull on and massage the breast and thereby extract milk in an action reminiscent of suckling. The milk so extracted is ordinarily collected in a bottle or other container for storage and later use. A variety of breast pumps are available. The basic types of breast pumps include manual pumps and electric pumps. A manual breast pump consists of a plunger which freely slides within an outer cylinder. A seal is fitted around the outside of the plunger to seal against the inner surface of the outer cylinder. In this way, the plunger can slide within the outer cylinder to form a pump stroke. A breast flange or funnel is fluidly connected to the outer cylinder. Manual breast pumps, including bulb, cylinder, and trigger pumps, are difficult to use because they require the active participation of the mother in squeezing or pulling a device to produce a momentary suction. Some pumps are designed for single handed operation but require exceptional strength in the fingers to maintain a rhythmic squeezing action. In addition, a single handed breast pump typically requires that the hand performing the rhythmic, strength-intensive pumping also keep the funnel in place on the breast. Electrically powered breast pumps are a little better, not requiring so much work from one hand, but are more expensive, noisy, less portable, and have less control of suction and rhythm. Motor-driven pumps typically either have a separate vacuum pump attached to the hood by tubing, or the motor is built into the hood assembly itself.

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May 28, 2008 | Filed Under Baby feeding