Medela Introduces Award-Winning Calma® in the United States

MCHENRY, Ill., Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela today announced the U.S. launch of Calma, a product designed exclusively for breastfed babies to support mothers in their breastfeeding journey. Calma is a research-based nipple used with a BPA-free breastmilk bottle designed to help babies to maintain their natural feeding behavior and transition from bottle back to breast with ease -- a revolution for breastfeeding mothers.

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"Medela is always working to find new solutions for moms and babies by investing in research-based breastfeeding innovations," said Carolin Archibald, president of Medela. "Calma is the latest advancement in breastfeeding science that is the result of many years of research and development with leading lactation consultants."

Calma is the first breastmilk feeding solution based on new breastfeeding science of milk removal from the breast. Research published in the journal, Early Human Development, by world-renowned scientists and lactation researchers from the University of Western Australia, demonstrated that babies create a vacuum when extracting milk from the breast, which is a method different than the wave-like movement that was previously understood.(1)

Calma was developed through the work of lead researcher Dr. Donna Geddes, assistant professor, School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences at the University of Western Australia, with Medela's support. With Calma, breastmilk flows when babies create a vacuum so they can feed, pause and breathe — which mimics their feeding behavior at the breast. As a result, Calma's unique vacuum technology allows mothers to provide pumped breastmilk to their babies, and easily transition babies back to feeding at the breast.

The vacuum technology in the Calma nipple is vastly different from a conventional bottle nipple, which may disrupt normal feeding behavior and contribute to a difficult transition from bottle to breast. Milk flows freely from a standard bottle nipple even if the baby is not actively sucking — a feature unlike that of the breast. Calma's technology allows babies to continue their natural feeding behavior as if they were at the breast, making it easier for babies to transition back to breastfeeding.

"Our research on how babies breastfeed showed that tongue movement is different than previously described and that vacuum is important for milk removal," said Dr. Geddes. "These new research findings led Medela to incorporate unique features into a teat so that infants use vacuum and tongue action similar to breastfeeding to remove the expressed milk from a bottle."

Calma has been available in Europe and Canada since 2010. Calma recently won the prestigious Innovation Award in the category of World of Baby Care at Kind + Jugend, the world's leading international nursery fair.

"For more than 50 years, Medela has recognized that breastmilk is the best nutrition for babies. It helps improve the health of both mom and baby. Breast is always best, yet we've heard from many moms who struggle to continue breastfeeding, especially during transitions such as returning to work," said Archibald. "Calma was developed to enable mothers to succeed during these transitions, prolong breastfeeding duration, and provide the health benefits of their own breastmilk to their babies."

Calma is a part of Medela's complete breastfeeding support system of pump, store and feed products. Calma's one size/shape nipple is used for all stages of breastmilk feeding and also helps to reduce gassiness. Breastfeeding should be well established before introducing Calma. It will be available in U.S. baby specialty stores in January 2012. Visit www.medela.com for more information on Calma and to locate a Calma retailer.

About Medela

Medela provides the most technologically advanced breastpumps and breastfeeding accessories to nursing mothers around the world. A long-time champion of breastfeeding, Medela is the only company to develop products based on research by the world's leading lactation experts. As a result, Medela's breastpumps are the number one choice of healthcare professionals and facilities worldwide.

Medela has developed an extensive line of products to meet the diverse needs of nursing mothers.  These products include hospital-grade, double and single electric and manual personal breastpumps; breastfeeding accessories such as breast care products and specialty feeding devices. Most recently, Medela introduced 2-Phase Expression®, the only research-based breastpump technology that mimics a baby's nursing rhythm, resulting in faster let-down and milk flow.

Founded in 1961 by Olle Larsson in Zug, Switzerland, Medela continues to grow under the ownership of the Larsson family. Medela serves customers through a worldwide network of distribution partners in more than 90 countries and its 15 subsidiaries in Australia, the Benelux countries, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Sweden, Poland and Switzerland. www.medela.com

(1) Geddes, D.T., Sakalidis, V.S., Hepworth, A.R., et al. (Early Human Development, 2011). Tongue movement and intra-oral vacuum of term infants during breastfeeding from an experimental teat that released milk under vacuum only.

Media Contact:
Julia Bosman
815-578-2338
[email protected]

SOURCE Medela

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