Is it ok to use a secondhand breast pump?

[SecondhandTable]

I don't really like the idea of it however you can buy secondhand ones for a fraction of the retail price. I'm especially looking at electric Medela pumps or the Elvie. Is it ok to use secondhand as long as I sterilise them prior to use?

I really don't see why not. I had an unexpected two-day hospital stay when DD was 4.5 months old. DD had to stay home with DH due to corona. I took a manual pump with me but it was such a pain, so a nurse offered me their medela (?) electric pump. They had one with disposable attachments that you can use for new patients, so they must be reasonably cheap and you must be able to buy them from somewhere. The bottles were all used too - DH just brought our own bottles to pour the milk into when he picked me up.

Of course. Just clean and sterilise.

Yes - I bought one 6 years ago and it has been used by friends/family ever since! Just sterilised. It gets cleaned and sterilised all the time during use anyway so tends to be a pretty clean item if it's looked after properly.

When teenaged DC1 arrived and would not co-operate with BF I hired a breast pump, but had to buy the disposable pack. Goodness knows how many people used that pump before me or after me. All of the parts that touch your body or the breastmilk will be reusable and must be sterilised after every use, but should be disposed of when you are finished your BF journey.

Thanks all.

That being said does anyone have any views on whether a Medela electric breast pump is better or an Elvie electric? I only used a manual last time and given it was manual I was quite successful with pumping in the early weeks so want an electric this time to maximise production more conveniently. Does anyone know if you can use a Medela double electric pump but only use one of the pumps instead of both at the same time? I'm anticipating I will mostly pump one side whilst feeding on the other if possible which is what I did last time as got more much that way than pumping separately.

The pump I hired (Medela) allowed me to pump from one or both sides at a time all those years ago. This was a hospital grade machine. I imagine you would need to check the specifications of the particular pump you are interested in.