IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v292y2022ics0277953621009576.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pay at the pump?: Problems with electric breast pumps

Author

Listed:
  • Leiter, Valerie
  • Agiliga, Alexis
  • Kennedy, Evangeline
  • Mecham, Emma

Abstract

Breast pump marketing promises mothers that they will be able to follow cultural and scientific mandates to breastfeed their babies, but on their own schedules, including working outside of the home. Relatively little attention has been paid to the problems that women may experience with breast pumps. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates breast pumps as medical devices, and the agency collects data on adverse events experienced by consumers and recalls. Existing literature on breast pumps was reviewed in the contexts of medicalization and biomedicalization, and regulatory data were analyzed using mixed methods to examine the problems that women have experienced with breast pumps, which include electrical problems, suction problems, fluid leaks, injuries, and infections. While electric breast pumps promise women convenience and efficiency in pumping, women may incur personal costs, in the form of pain, injuries, and infections. These findings have implications regarding the risks of using these devices, the design of future pumps, and the future research into medical devices for reproductive and women's health.

Suggested Citation

  • Leiter, Valerie & Agiliga, Alexis & Kennedy, Evangeline & Mecham, Emma, 2022. "Pay at the pump?: Problems with electric breast pumps," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:292:y:2022:i:c:s0277953621009576
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114625
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621009576
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114625?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Colen, Cynthia G. & Ramey, David M., 2014. "Is breast truly best? Estimating the effects of breastfeeding on long-term child health and wellbeing in the United States using sibling comparisons," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 55-65.
    2. Kelleher, Christa M., 2006. "The physical challenges of early breastfeeding," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2727-2738, November.
    3. Gatrell, Caroline Jane, 2007. "Secrets and lies: Breastfeeding and professional paid work," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 393-404, July.
    4. Rasmussen, K.M. & Geraghty, S.R., 2011. "The quiet revolution: Breastfeeding transformed with the use of breast pumps," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(8), pages 1356-1359.
    5. Koh, Kanghyock, 2017. "Maternal breastfeeding and children's cognitive development," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 101-108.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Braimoh, Jessica & Davies, Lorraine, 2014. "When ‘breast’ is no longer ‘best’: Post-partum constructions of infant-feeding in the hospital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 82-89.
    2. Johnson, Sally & Williamson, Iain & Lyttle, Steven & Leeming, Dawn, 2009. "Expressing yourself: A feminist analysis of talk around expressing breast milk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 900-907, September.
    3. Robyn Lee, 2018. "Breastfeeding Bodies: Intimacies at Work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 77-90, January.
    4. Miki Kobayashi & Emiko Usui, 2017. "Breastfeeding practices and parental employment in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 579-596, June.
    5. Karen E. Schaller & Linda J. Stephenson-Somers & Adolfo J. Ariza & Maheen Quadri & Helen J. Binns, 2019. "Case Reports: Multifaceted Experiences Treating Youth with Severe Obesity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-9, March.
    6. Rothstein, Jessica D. & Caulfield, Laura E. & Broaddus-Shea, Elena T. & Muschelli, John & Gilman, Robert H. & Winch, Peter J., 2020. "“The doctor said formula would help me”: Health sector influences on use of infant formula in peri-urban Lima, Peru," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    7. Quinn, Elizabeth A. & Sobonya, Sarah & Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L., 2023. "Maternal perceptions of human milk expression output: An experimental design using photographs of milk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    8. Eliot L. Sherman, 2020. "Discretionary Remote Working Helps Mothers Without Harming Non-mothers: Evidence from a Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1351-1374, March.
    9. Tomori, Cecilia & Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L. & Dowling, Sally, 2016. "Contested moral landscapes: Negotiating breastfeeding stigma in breastmilk sharing, nighttime breastfeeding, and long-term breastfeeding in the U.S. and the U.K," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 178-185.
    10. Chae, Minhee & Cai, Yong & Kim, Jun Hyung & Lavely, William, 2023. "Unintended Consequences of Family Planning Policies on the Breastfeeding Gap between Sons and Daughters," IZA Discussion Papers 16190, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Kirksey, Kristen, 2021. "A social history of racial disparities in breastfeeding in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    12. Cho, Esther Yin-Nei & Yu, Fuk-Yuen, 2020. "A review of measurement tools for child wellbeing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    13. Barclay, Kieron & Keenan, Katherine & Grundy, Emily & Kolk, Martin & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2016. "Reproductive history and post-reproductive mortality: A sibling comparison analysis using Swedish register data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 82-92.
    14. Jackson, Dylan B., 2016. "Breastfeeding duration and offspring conduct problems: The moderating role of genetic risk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 128-136.
    15. Gina Gaio Santos, 2015. "Narratives about Work and Family Life among Portuguese Academics," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-15, January.
    16. Ayesha Masood & Muhammad Azfar Nisar, 2020. "Crushed between two stones: Competing institutional logics in the implementation of maternity leave policies in Pakistan," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1103-1126, November.
    17. Torres, Jennifer M.C., 2014. "Medicalizing to demedicalize: Lactation consultants and the (de)medicalization of breastfeeding," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 159-166.
    18. Barclay, Kieron & Keenan, Katherine & Grundy, Emily & Kolk, Martin & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2016. "Reproductive history and post-reproductive mortality: a sibling comparison analysis using Swedish register data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65602, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Burns, E. & Schmied, V. & Fenwick, J. & Sheehan, A., 2012. "Liquid gold from the milk bar: Constructions of breastmilk and breastfeeding women in the language and practices of midwives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1737-1745.
    20. Koh, Kanghyock, 2017. "Maternal breastfeeding and children's cognitive development," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 101-108.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:292:y:2022:i:c:s0277953621009576. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.