Best Breast Pumps

I'm thrilled to have a guest author share her extensive knowledge about the best breast pumps.

“The Best of the Breast”
by Tanya Alsop

Whether you want to return to work, or simply wish to have some quiet time while someone else cares for your little angel, having one of the best breast pumps would be one of the best assets a new mother can have.

"If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever
else you do well matters very much."
--Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

I started pumping shortly after the birth of my first child, mainly because hubby and I decided it would be a great way for him to bond with bub, but I also found it provided me with a sense of freedom, which became important after the first couple of months cooped up in the house.

There are many, many varieties and brands of breast pumps on the market so it’s important not only to know which type will suit your lifestyle best, but also which brand is the best in that category.

The Best Breast Pumps...Manual Breast Pumps

First of all, let’s talk about manual breast pumps. Manual pumps are hand operated and best suited to mothers who don’t intend to express milk frequently. The reason being, that they are rather slow and cumbersome compared to electric pumps. On the up side though, they’re generally a lot cheaper too, with most ranging around the $20 to $40 mark.

In the manual range, it’s hard to go past the

'Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump'. It’s light, compact and utilizes an ingenious swivel handle which actually maneuvers around so that you can find a comfortable position while pumping. This can be extremely handy when you’re nursing bub, or multi-tasking as busy moms so often do. The thing I liked most about the ‘Medela Harmony’ is how easy it is to disassemble and clean. Because there are only a few small parts, it’s simply a matter of taking it apart, and hand washing in warm soapy water.

The ‘Medela Harmony’ makes a great choice for moms who don’t intend to express regularly or even for those who own an electric pump but also want something a little lighter and more compact to travel around with. With this in mind, the Harmony will also fit snugly into your purse.

For those who do plan on regular use, I highly recommend investing in an electric pump. Electric breast pumps come in single or dual varieties, which means they can either pump 1 breast at a time or 2.

The Best Breast Pumps...Single Electric Breast Pumps

A single electric breast pump obviously won’t allow you to express as fast as dual electric breastpump, but they will generally perform faster than a manual pump. They do however, cost a little more.

In the single electric breast pump range the two pumps I recommend most are the 'The First Years miPump'

and the 'Medela Swing Breast Pump'. Both pumps are operated an electric motor that generates the suction and can be controlled via a panel that has settings to increase and reduce the level of suction produced.

Both pumps are also very quiet and can be operated by both AC power or batteries. Out of the two I’ve found the Medela Swing is both more durable and provides a higher level of suction, however it does retail at almost twice the price so if budget is more important than quality then the miPump is a sensible choice.

The Best Breast Pumps...Dual Electric Breast Pumps

In the dual electric breast pump range there are again, two stand out competitors.. The 'Medela Pump in Style Advanced' and the 'Ameda Purely Yours' . Both have their advantages and disadvantages. For the Ameda the main advantage is the ‘closed system’ it utilizes. A closed system means that it’s impossible for the milk to breach parts of the pump that are impossible to clean, like the motor where stale milk can cause bacteria to form. The other advantage is that it comes in about $30 - $40 cheaper than the Medela Pump In Style.

Once again though, the Medela Pump In Style is the Rolls Royce of breastpumps and is more durable and provides a greater level of suction than any other pump on the market. Both these models are available to purchase with stylish and discrete travel bags for pumping at work or on the go. And again, both models can be used via either battery power or AC.

The Medela Pump in Style Advanced has been my constant companion for the last 13 months. Due to an undiagnosable issue, I was not able to nurse my youngest, but I was determined to give her all of the same benefits of breastmilk that her older siblings had. This meant that I needed to exclusively pump. (No warm fuzzies in pumping, but well worth the effort in what it provided for my daughter.)

The Pump in Style Advanced has been wonderful, and the customer support at Medela was great. I started having an issue with a cord, and at the same time received a letter in the mail stating that they had discovered some issues with cords from that particular lot and "Would you like to have a free replacement?"

The only thing I would caution about is to get the black bag. I ended up purchasing a tan one, and feel it is less discreet and easier soiled-looking than the black one I had years ago.

--Laurie - The MNBC Mommy

Choosing the best breast pump for your situation is but one of the many important decisions a nursing mother has to make and I hope this guide has given you a good starting point.

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Tanya Allsop owns BreastPumpReviewSite.com, a website that provides information for nursing mothers and the best breast pump reviews.

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