Mama's Milk Breast Pump Use Campaign Launched

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Mama's Milk has recently launched a campaign to increase public awareness of the accessibility of reliable inexpensive breast pumps for nursing mothers, centered around their website http://www.mamasmilk.com. Mama's Milk is a Chicago-based company that distributes breast pumps and hosts Breastfeeding Workshops to increase general knowledge of breastfeeding benefits.

The company hopes to join with welfare-to-work initiatives to help mothers starting programs. Through the use of breast pumps, tax dollars will be saved in costs of infant formula, health care costs, and higher job program retention rates will also help the health and bonds of the mothers and infants.

Mama's Milk is targeting the African-American and urban community. President Maji Steele, a La Leche League trained Peer Counselor says, "There's too little information in our community about benefits of breastfeeding, and even less information about the possibility of our mothers pumping their milk for their babies if they are away at work or school." Supplementation of artificial baby formula has been linked to increased risks of SIDS and asthma which are alarmingly high in the African-American community.

Breast pump rentals to express milk for babies are significantly cheaper than the price of infant formulas. Approximately 80% of African-Americans are lactose intolerant, and many African-American babies are referred to soy based formulas because of milk allergies or intolerances. These formulas are generally even more expensive, so the savings for breast pump rentals versus formula supplementation are even greater.

While infant formulas are a weight in the budget of many families, breast pump rentals can help more babies adhere to the AAP standards of no cow's milk for the minimum of a year. Mothers can frequently pump their breasts with a reliable electric breast pump twice during the work day for 15-20 minutes (during their lunch and/or breaks) and be able to pump enough for their next work day. Many mothers purchasing typical store-bought pumps have complained of malfunctions, ineffectiveness, and soreness.

The company is targeting mothers of all income levels. The company is currently renting breast pumps to mothers in the Chicagoland area, and has the website www.mamasmilk.com which offers breastfeeding information, information on breast pump rentals, and actual breast pump sales. For more information: 773-734-1547.

CONTACT: Maji Steele, President of Mama's Milk, 773-734-1547, or MSteele@mamasmilk.com

May 16, 2000