Breast Pump

Second-hand or Used Breastpumps

Man's (and woman's) natural proclivity is towards getting a better deal in any commercial transaction. We tend to go for the best that is available at as cheap a price as possible. Sometimes, mothers in the family or friend circle happily lend their used breastpumps to an expectant mother, without thinking twice. The latter, too, accept it gladly, partly because it reduces the already ballooning pregnancy cost, and partly because they consider the lender to be an expert, and more knowledgeable in such matters.

This scenario works out quite frequently in homes throughout the country. It is not surprising, for there is a huge business of rental pumps out there in the market - so using / sharing used pumps is taken for granted.

There are pumps and then there are pumps. The subtle difference that companies make, when they come out with pumps-for-sale and pumps-for-rent, is that, with the latter, the collection kits are designed in such a way that the milk never touches those parts of the pump that a mother handles directly. The collection kit, comprising of bottles and the tubing are always given from the fresh stock at the time of renting out a pump. Pumps for rent are usually also called "closed systems".

In contrast, pumps-for-sale are designed in such a way that the components that touch the human body open to, or come in direct contact with, the collection kit's tubing. Even the motor's diaphragm may be open to the tubing in some cases. This increases the possibility of milk particles from the breast shield dripping over the diaphragm and getting collected thereabout. These diaphragms cannot be removed or sterilized, unfortunately, at the consumer level. When this pump is handed over, with all good intentions, the new mother receives the hidden milk in the bargain, too. The result is that, milk from another mother can get mixed with the new mother's milk, even when the bottles, tubings and breastshields are new. This activity may happen invisibly, without the mother becoming aware of it.

Now the problem with such milk is the possibility of it containing viruses or germs that the new mother and her baby has not already developed immunity to. This plainly implies that the risk of being infected by this virus increases. Potential candidates in this category include the HIV, Hepatitis B & C, and the like.

This issue is serious enough for quite a few reputed companies to declare in bold type their cautionary message on their website. The FDA has, infact, quite a few paragraphs devoted to the issue of using previously owned breastpumps, on their official website.

Used breastpumps also have one feature that mothers do not realize immediately. This is the matter of aging of breastpumps. All devices have a definite age, beyond which they simply refuse to function. Rarely does a pump come with a warranty that extends for more than a year. So, if the mother has borrowed a used device from somebody she knows, and if the device stops working, she might have to contend with the conscience of providing the lender with a replacement. This really costs a lot more than buying a new pump in the first place!

So the next time you face a situation, where somebody you know is offering a used pump to another person you know, you have the knowledge of the right action to be taken.