Pump users breastfed longer in a big U.S. survey. What that does and does not mean

If you have pumped, you are in very common company. In a recent survey of nearly 20,000 U.S. breastfeeding mothers, about 9 in 10 had used a breast pump.

A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2024 asked a simple question: do parents who use pumps breastfeed for longer? The short answer is that pump use went along with longer breastfeeding. But the study cannot say the pump itself is the reason, and that difference matters.

What the study looked at

The researchers used CDC survey data (the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System) from Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and Utah, collected between 2016 and 2021. The sample included 19,719 mothers who had initiated breastfeeding. The survey asked whether they had ever used a breast pump to express milk, and how long they breastfed.

Pumping was everywhere in this sample: 90.6% of breastfeeding mothers had used a pump. The researchers then compared how long breastfeeding lasted for pump users and non-users, while accounting for differences like age, income, insurance, education, marital status, and birth factors like cesarean delivery and infant birth weight.

What the study found

Pump users had a 37% lower hazard of stopping breastfeeding (adjusted hazard ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.56 to 0.70). On average, pump users breastfed about 21 weeks longer. The median tells the same story: breastfeeding lasted a median of 34 weeks among pump users, versus 13 weeks among non-users.

The association was strongest for non-Hispanic Black and Native American mothers (adjusted hazard ratios of 0.47 and 0.51). The authors note these are groups disproportionately affected by breastfeeding inequities, and that pump access may be one piece of closing that gap.

What the study cannot tell us

This was a cross-sectional survey, not an experiment. It captured one snapshot per parent, at an average of about four months postpartum. It cannot show that pumps cause longer breastfeeding.

The direction could run the other way, and probably partly does: parents who breastfeed longer simply have more weeks in which a pump becomes useful. The measure was also blunt: "ever used a pump" does not distinguish daily pumpers from someone who tried one once. And the data comes from four states, so it may not picture the whole country.

The authors say it plainly themselves: the context around pump use, and its causal impact on breastfeeding outcomes, still needs study.

Why it still matters

Even with those limits, the finding is useful for parents. Pumping is a common, widely used tool, not a sign that breastfeeding has "failed" or a lesser path. About 9 in 10 breastfeeding parents in this survey reached for one at some point. Pumps help when you are back at work, when a baby is in the NICU, when latching is hard, or when you simply need a break or a bottle someone else can give.

If pumping is painful, frustrating, or you are unsure about flange fit, that is worth bringing to a lactation consultant rather than pushing through alone.

At Milkwell, we support feeding in whatever shape it takes for your family, pumping included. If you have questions about pumping or feeding your baby, you can learn about our lactation consultations at milkwelllactation.com/lactation-consultations. A lactation consultant or your clinician can help with your specific situation. This article is general education, not individualized medical advice.

Sources

Nardella D, Canavan M, Sharifi M, Taylor S. Quantifying the Association Between Pump Use and Breastfeeding Duration. Journal of Pediatrics. 2024;274:114192. Published online July 14, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39004167/