Mould in my Medela swing!

[Quietlyalert]

just opened my Medela swing to remove the batteries and horrified to find mould growing all over and around the black sponge inside the battery compartment! And a horrible sour milk smell to boot. This happened to anyone else? Is the pump a write off? I plan to contact Medela but interested to hear about others' experiences. I've followed the cleaning instructions for when milk gets into the motor and wiped off the mould but not sure whether it's even possible to clean the sponge. Thanks

I don't have any advice but there's a thread from last week about second hand breast pumps which mentions the "open system" of the Medela Swing. This system means mould can grow inside the pump.

There's a blog written by a woman who opened up her Medela pump. Gross stuff. (can't remember the name sorry)

Ick! Thanks

I believe that you can replace the sponge? Maybe call medela and ask.

mythnomore.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/why-you-shouldnt-buy-sell-or-borrow.html?m=1

Hi There,

I just discovered the exact same problem - mould in the sponge. I had lost most of the suction from the device and decided to open the battery section but horrified to see mould growing.

Did you find out from medela about this problem?

Thanks
Sudh

Hi, I know you can clean the pump by pumping warm soapy water through the device. There are instructions on how to do this in the manual and online I know it's what is recomended if milk gets inside. This might help?

Happened to be too. I was going to replace the sponge but looked at the motor out if curiosity and it was mouldy too. Binned in the end and would inly but a closed system now.

belated thanks for the replies. i cleaned the sponge and ran water through the machine (as advised by medela) - no more visible mould but do worry about what's lurking within. tend to use manual pump more now anyway but would avoid second hand pumps in future i think!

I was very impressed by Amazon. We contacted Medela who asked us to get in touch with Amazon directly where we bought this item. They sent us a brand new pump. The item was 5 months over their standard return policy.