Medela Freestyle

I have twin girls so expressing needs to be quick and simple, which is exactly what the Medela Freestyle provides. The double breast pump and the addition of the bustier too means I can express completely hands free and carry on with other household jobs simultaneously. I would recommend this product as an essential buy to all mums.

I used this four days a week for nearly 18 months. It never let me down. The insulated bag is discreet enough to put in the office fridge and keeps milk cool during the commute home, and you can programme the pump to simulate your own letdown. Three years after buying it, I've just taken it out of storage as I've a new baby, and it still works perfectly. Simple to take apart and clean in the dishwasher.

This product enabled me to feed dd for six months, after she couldn't latch on, so I'm very grateful to it. I used it 5-7 times a day for six months, then reduced output over six weeks. All parts remain in full working order.

I'd used the Medela symphony in hospital and considered hiring one. We bought this instead as, over about 7 months the cost is the same and we should be able to re-sell this. The action and effectiveness is very similar but this is portable - useful even within our house, for taking it to use upstairs when we had guests, for visiting people and occasionally for going out, with careful planning. The battery lasts at least a day.

The action, suction and double-pumping is effective, with varied strength settings for comfort / speed. It took me 10-15 minutes each time to extract all available milk (100-150 mls each side every 3-4 hours once supply was well established).

Assembly and maintenance are straightforward. Sometimes the innards got wet, affecting suction and I had to stop and dry them.

I didn't try the hands free option and, in my ignorance, am sceptical, as careful positioning and firm hold were essential. I found I could hold one side in place with a forearm, while holding the other side, freeing up one hand,

Before dd was re-admitted for weight loss at 5 days I'd tried Boots hand pumps (useless) and a Boots electric pump (a very gentle tickling action, no suction, completely ineffective) and hand-expressing (effective but more time and effort than this). It was a huge relief to use the Medela pumps, which actually pump!

My son was unable to feed naturally for the first 6 weeks of his life and so I had to express every 2 hours day and night for 6 weeks- this pump was better than the one provided to me in the hospital. I have used it on and off since. I started using it again now as my son is to start weaning. I would recommend it to anyone.

This is a fantastic pump, I was originally with a rented Medela Symphony and was worried about changing breast pumps in case the suction and results were not the same. The freestyle is full portable - and I have been using it up to 6 times a day. I even took it to New Zealand and pump twice on each leg of the flight and due to its battery..I could sit in the plane seat covered in a blanket and no one had a clue what I was doing...the noise is drowned out by the plane. Using it 6 times a day - the battery once fully charged will last around 3 days. I get the same amount of milk as using the big Symphony model..ie. 220ml in 12-14 min. I don't find the harness to be hands free very good at all but the machine itself is small enough to fit in my adidas sweatshirt pocket so I can walk around while pumping but will have to hold them to my chest.
Very easy to clean and sterilise. If you lose any parts don't order from Medela - order instead from expressyourself.com - it is my cheaper.
All in all the best breast pump I have seen and a good investment if you want to go back to work or are just stuck having to express.

This is a great breast pump if you are looking for something that is almost hospital grade but at the same time portable. The body of the pump is quite small and will fit into a pocket or you can always attach it to the belt that comes with it or on your clothes. For such a small pump, it is actually very powerful.

It is a double pump so halves the pumping time if not more. Also can be used as a single pump if needed. The hands free kit it comes with is not very effective. I recommend that you cut holes in any tight fitting padded bra and attach the 2 pumps via the holes instead, works extremely well.
The price is pretty steep but worth it if:
1. you don't want to spend more than 5-10minutes emptying your breasts (from full)
2. want to walk around/have both hands free to do things while pumping. You wont be able to bend forward too much as the pumped milk will spill out of the bottles
3. pump several times a day
4. looking for a relatively quiet but equally powerful electric pump
5. want to improve milk production (double pumping helps)
6. want something portable to carry to work/travel

The pump comes with 4x150ml medela bottles which can be used directly for feeding or for storage. But the teat may be a bit too fast flowing for newborns. You can always transfer the pumped milk to a feeding bottle of your choice. It also comes with 3 teats,hands free kit that can be attached to a nursing bra, a cooler storage bag and a shoulder carry bag to keep everything in.

Would buy it as a gift for my expectant friends if it wasn't so expensive.