Are you planning to buy an easy-to-use and a convenient breast pump for yourself? If yes, then don’t worry, a wide variety of breast pumps are now available in the market with an affordable price-range and wonderful features. Depending upon the customized needs and requirements of the breastfeeding moms, various manual, battery-powered and electric breast pumps are now being designed by the manufacturers, thereby, taking the breastfeeding experience to greater heights.
If you have to breastfeed your baby several times a day, then electric breast pumps will be the best option available for you. However, if you travel frequently, then you must buy a manual breast pump which serves as a backup to the electric breast pump.
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What is a breast pump?
A breast pump is a mechanical or an electrical device which is basically used for extracting milk from the breasts of breastfeeding mothers. All breast pumps are made up of a few basic parts like breast shields, a pump, and a milk container.
However, due to various technological advancements, markets are now getting filled up with an exclusive range of breast pumps, featuring a few advanced features like digital controls, night-timer, adjustable speed and vacuum settings along with unique and ergonomic designs.
There are 3 different types of breast pumps- manual pumps, battery-powered pumps, and electrical pumps. So, as per your suitability and convenience, choose the one which proves best for you. You can either buy your favorite one from a nearby store or can also place an order online to avail great discounts.
Top reasons why you must buy a breast pump
- A helpful tool – A breast pump is a wonderful tool which is exclusively designed to help the new moms in extracting breast milk easily and conveniently. Though expressing milk with hands is usually considered to be the best medium for breastfeeding a baby, but you can also use a manual or battery-powered or electrical breast pump to make the breastfeeding process fast, smooth and time-saving.
- Proves beneficial when the infant is premature or sick– A breast pump proves beneficial in those cases where the newborn is premature and is too weak to breastfeed. Also, when the infant is sick, you can use the breast pump to conveniently breastfeed him or her.
- Provides opportunity to new moms to relax– With the help of a breast pump, you can store your breast milk for the later feedings and feed your baby whenever you want. Since the expressed breastmilk is already stored and readily available, you can just sit back and relax without any need to worry.
- Helps in maintaining sufficient milk supply– A breast pump provides breast stimulation which ultimately helps in increasing and maintaining sufficient milk supply in lactating mothers. Depending upon your requirements, you can either use a manual pump or a battery-powered pump or an electrical pump for better stimulation.
- Helps in relieving pain due to engorgement– At times it may happen that a mother’s breasts become overly full and engorged with breastmilk. Therefore, in such cases, she can use a breast pump to express milk out of her body and gets some relief from the throbbing pain.
- Offers portability along with built-in advanced features– Mostly, breast pumps are light-weight in nature, thereby allowing you to carry and transport them from one place to another without facing any difficulty. Also, nowadays, breast pumps are equipped with various built-in advanced features like night-timers, digital controls and offer highly adjustable speed and vacuum settings to its users.
- Helps in keeping emergency supply- The breastmilk stored with the help of breast pump proves to be of great use especially in case of emergencies when you are sick and feeling too weak to breastfeed a baby.
Factors to consider before buying a breast pump
- Usage- Before buying a breast pump, you have to first evaluate your needs and requirements as to for how long and how often would you be using the breast pump for the breastfeeding purposes. Whether you would be using it at home, at office or while travelling, all such factors play a significant role in choosing your ideal breast pump.
- Type- While buying a breast pump, you have to choose the exact type as to whether you require a manual pump or a battery-powered pump or an electrical pump. If you travel frequently along with your baby, then you must prefer manual breast pump over electrical pump. Or if you stay at home, then you may buy a battery-powered or an electrical breast pump.
- Advanced features– While planning to buy a breast pump, you must look out for advanced features like adjustable speed and vacuum settings, digital controls, night-timers, breast shields size and texture, cooling cases and built-in bottle holders to make the breast-feeding experience comfortable and enjoyable.
- Warranty- While buying a breast pump you must ensure that the product you buy must be backed by a suitable warranty period. There are many branded manufacturers like Medela, Spectra, Phillips etc. which offer at least 1-year warranty for pump mechanisms and at least 90 days warranty for the parts and accessories.
- Portability– The breast pumps prove to be of great help to working moms, so, if you are one of them, then you must see whether the breast pump offersthe feature of portability and allow you to carry it along with you wherever you want.
- Budget- While planning to buy a breast pump, you must choose the one which fits well within your estimated budget. The more advanced features a breast pump has, the more expensive it will be. Nowadays, you will find a variety of features in a breast pump like night-timer, digital controls and adjustable speed and vacuum settings.
- Maintenance costs– Before making the actual purchase, you must check the maintenance costs of your breast pump’s parts along with the energy consumption costs. After evaluating the respective costs, you must go for the one which offers most of the features to you within your estimated budget.
Top 4 Breast Pump Reviews of 2019
1. Spectra Baby USA S2 Double/Single Breast Pump, 3.3 Pound
This breast pump boasts of some of the innovative features which makes the lives of the lactating mothers much easier and comfortable.
Its key features are-
- Its dimensions are 9 x 7.9 x 6.7 inches and the pump weighs around 3.3 pounds.
- It is operated by Lithium Metal batteries and supports a maximum suction strength of 300mmHg.
- It is made-up of plastic and can be used as a single pump as well as double pump.
- It is equipped with a touch button, digital controls which allowyou to adjust the pumping program as per your ease and convenience.
- Its Spectra S2 pump isa closed system, well known for its motor performance, which ultimately makes it strong enough to support enough milk supply.
- It is equipped with highly adjustable settings and offers a host of additional features like nightlight, timer and other control settings.
- You can customize your pumping experience with the help adjustable and comfortable suction and cycling in let-down and expression mode.
- It comes with minimum noise levels as well as backflow protection which protects the breast milk and your baby from bacteria and viruses while pumping.
- It offers you the flexibility to adjust both cycle and vacuum and comes with a warranty of 2 years.
2. Philips AVENT Double Electric Comfort Breast Pump
It is one of the most comfortable electric breast pumps of all the pumps devised till now, featuring a unique design, thereby allowing the lactating mothers to sit in a comfortable posture without the need to lean forward.
Its key features are-
- The dimensions of the breast pump are 12.4 x 5.4 x 9.2 inches and its weight is around 2 pounds.
- Its angled neck allows you to sit in a relaxing and upright position without any need to lean forward.
- Its design is compact and its parts are durable and ergonomic in nature, thereby allowing you to easily assemble and use them as per your customized needs.
- It is equipped with 3 easy-to-use expression settings, which you can change as per your body requirements.
- It is composed of 25 mm soft massage cushions with five textured petals which gives you a warm feel and helps in smooth stimulation of milk flow.
- It consists of a pump, 4-ounce natural bottles, 2 extra-soft nipples, cushions and all of them are BPA free, thereby ensuring good health to your baby.
- It comes with a travel bag which offers a high degree of portability and helps you to easily carry it along with you wherever you go.
- It is backed by 2-year warranty and its parts are dishwasher-safe and can be easily sterilized.
3. Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump
It is one of the best-selling manual breast pumpswith soft-touch and ergonomic swivel handle which makes the process of manual pumping comfortable and much easier for the lactating mothers. It proves beneficial for themoms who are mostly travelling and want to keep this manual breast pump as a backup to the electric breast pump.
Its key features are-
- The dimensions of the breast pump are 9.1 x 7.3 x 3.6 inches and its weight is around 14.4 ounces.
- It consists of a manual pump, bottles with lids, a bottle stand, nipple with collar and a cap.
- Its design is compact and elegant and offers ease of convenience to its users.
- It is light-weight in nature and makes use of 2-Phase expression technology which helps the lactating mothers to breastfeed their babies successfully.
- Its basic components are BPA free and protects the breastfeeding baby from various bacterial and virus infections.
- Its pumping operations are smooth and do not exhibit any noise while getting being used.
- Its cleanup process is very easy which ultimately helps in saving a considerable amount of time.
- It even offers great compatibility with PersonalFit breast shields.
- It is warranted by Medela Inc. for a period of 1 year for pump mechanism and 90 days for all the parts and accessories.
4. Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump with On the Go Tote
It is a double-electric breast pump which is exclusively designed for moms who have to breastfeed their babies several times a day.
Its key features are-
- The dimensions of this breast pump are 10 x 5 x 7 inches and its weight is around 7 pounds.
- It is equipped with a 2-Phase Expression technology with one-touch let-down button which results in smoother pumping operations.
- It comes with a double pumping kit including 24 mm PersonalFit breast shields, valves, 5oz breast milk bottles, lids, 9-volt AC adapter and a battery pack exclusive of 8AA batteries.
- Its stylish microfiber bag includes a built-in pump and built-in bottle holders which is used for holding all those components required for pumping.
- It also has a removable cooler bag, contoured ice pack and 4 breast milk bottles with lids.
- It is portable and you can easily carry and transport it from one place to another.
- It is equipped with a single knob which is used for adjusting speed and vacuum settings of the breast pump.
- All of its components and parts which come in contact with the breastmilk are BPA free which helps in protectingthe health of babies.
- It is warranted by Medela Inc. and guarantees a warranty period of 1-year for pump mechanism and 90 days for parts and accessories.
According to the recent studies, it has been observed that the practice of pumping, out of convenience, is becoming more popular among the new generation working moms. And it is, however, quite truethat breastfeeding with the help of breast pumps has become an excellent medium to feed babies, especially in those cases, wherein you havetime constraints due to hectic work schedules or when the newborn is premature and too weak to breastfeed conveniently.
The entire breastfeeding activity is not just about providing adequate nutrition to the baby, rather it is a soothing relationship which enhances the closeness, and bonding between the baby and the mother. So, keeping all the above factors in mind, take your decisions wisely and enjoy each and every phase of motherhood in a happy and joyful manner.
