How Medela Lost Moms

Medela invented the modern breast pump and led the cultural shift that made its use ubiquitous. Today’s mothers don’t seem impressed

- Por Esme E. Deprez

Just after 4 a.m. on May 15, 2019, in a surgical suite on the eighth floor of NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital, physicians delivered via cesarean section a healthy 5-pound, 17-inch-long package of wrinkly flesh named Nora and placed her on Sara Rademacher’s chest. The first-time mom had researched and grown fascinated by the power of a woman’s body to provide all the nourishment a newborn needs. So there was never any question that she’d try to breastfeed.

As a member of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a project of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, Tisch does whatever it can to encourage breastfeeding. Nurses helped Nora to latch within an hour, and lactation consultants paid visits, were available on call day and night, and distributed information packets. In case of complications, staff would be ready to augment the effort with an arsenal of products dominated by one company: Medela AG.

A new mother’s relationship with the brand often starts almost as soon as her baby is born, backed by the hospital’s seal of approval: A nurse or lactation consultant parks a $2,000 Medela breast pump by her bedside, places a silicone Medela protector over her inverted nipples, and provides relief from chafing with a packet of Medela lanolin. In the neonatal intensive care unit, Medela enteral feeding systems help keep preemies alive.