Can you recommend an electric breast pump? Or is it possible to hire a really good one?

[NorkyButNice]

I'm 35 weeks and need to get my hands on a really effective breast pump - I've had a breast reduction and know from my feeding experiences with DS that I'm going to need to pump regularly to try and up my supply while DC2 is asleep or not hungry.

Are there any off-the-shelf electric pumps that work really well, or is it best to look into hiring better ones from hospital (is this even possible?).

With DS I only had a manual pump and it wasn't good enough - want to be fully prepared this time.

Thanks

Ameda Lactaline is hospital grade, and totally brilliant - I expressed at work for over a year with mine, bought second hand on ebay, and then sold it in perfect order after that.

Thanks for the recommendation CMOT - It looks like I could pick one up new for just under 100 pounds which isn't too bad if I'll be using it for a long time.

Alternatively it looks like I can hire the next level up (Ameda Elite) for 50 pounds the first month, and 30 pounds a month after that - or buy it new for 700 but I think that's a bit much!

Are there are BF consultants around who can advise what may be best?

I'm not a bf consultant but I am quite involved with our local NCT, Contact either your local NCT branch (you will find the number easily if you google it) or the NCT breastfeeding line.

Someone can talk you through the options. It is likely/possible that you could hire one, then if it doesn't suit you, return it and hire a different one.

fwiw I got great results with a basic manual pump but that not suit your needs.

I had a very prem baby so needed to pump to keep the milk up. To start with I hired a hospital grade medela pump - hospital put me in touch with the agent but medela also provide details of local reps. Cost £50 for first 14 days - plus bottles, teats, and breast shields etc £30 a month afterwards. After that I bought a medela freestyle. it's brilliant noisier than the hospital grade pump but much much smaller and more portable it runs on a battery like a mobile phoen and he charger is interchangeable. Also there's been no difference in the milk yields.

I did try avent too in hospital (when my ds was readmitted after his original discharge)> I found it ok, yields similar but took longer and more unwieldy. Also according to the hospital avent are much harder to get replacement parts fo. If you hire a pump that won't be an issue but if you buy one it might be, espcially if you udo get one fom ebay.

I also had lots of advice from the lactation consultant in the hospital which was useful but they can't recommend any products because they are the NHS

Ask your hospital, as the hospital grade pumps are generally a lot better. Try bf helplines if no luck ar hosp. best of luck!

My DD was born by CS under GA so was very sleepy and I had to express -hospital were very happy to lend me an electric pump at no charge, so call up the post natal ward and speak to the infant feeding midwife or whoever deals with BF support at your local hospital.

I'll ask the midwife when I see her on Thursday.

Thanks for the tips!

As onepiece says, NCT are a good place to go and most branches hire them out.

I love my ameda lactaline - bought it when I had ds, used it for dd and have just wiped it down ready for the arrival of dc3. You can double pump with it, and it isn't too big. It is a bit noisy, but that's the only negative I have found. Good luck!

I've had two - an Avent electric single pump, which was OK, but for pumping whilst working I got a Medela double pump in style (like this ). It was noticably more powerful, and I think is equivalent to hospital grade ones (I actually found it easier and more effective than the one I used in hospital). If you are planning to pump a lot over a long period of time, then its really worth the money. And you can get it second hand if you want, and just order the 'personal' part replacements new from Medela. (In fact, I'll be selling mine when I get round to it if you want!)

Norky- I had a breast reduction too-
have you read Defining your own sucess? Breastfeeding after breast reduction surgery?

They recommend only using hospital grade pumps in our case especially as we may find it harder than most to establish supply.

I rented one from NCT for the first 3 months after using it in hospital for first week of DD's life as she was tube fed. It was AMAZING! (and other pumps pale into comparision!). I have the ameda lactaline and the medela swing- both are good but I could defo get more with the hospital grade pump and hence get a better supply going. Once DD was about 3.5 months we were out of the bfeeding/top up hell so I was only pumping once a day if that so I gave it up and am now very happy with my ameda lactaline for double pumping or medela swing if single pumping.

Also suggest you start hand expressing onto a spoon and sucking it up into syringe in a few weeks and freezing any colostrum you get (no proper evidence it brings on labour although some people think it does). I did this from 37weeks (gave birth at 40+2) and i reckon it massively helped getting my supply going after a horrific birth and also DD who was in NICU for a week. I had a big reduction 7lbs removed so it is a miracle I am still successfully breastfeeding 18weeks in. She did have to be mixed fed for a little bit as she lost 14% of her bodyweight, had tongue tie, wouldnt latch due to her nasogastric tube amongst many other things so I think the hospital grade pump saved our feeding relationship!

Thanks for the further replies.

Thandeka - yes I've got the book (Although it's buried in a box somewhere as we've just moved house!). I was looking at the Ameda Elite which is categorised as hospital grade.

I've tried squeezing colostrum out in recent days but no joy yet. I was 36 weeks yesterday so thought I should be able to get some, so maybe my technique is wrong!

It's good to hear that you are successfully feeding your DD, I'm worried that we're going to have the same problems this time round as I did with DS.

Thinking about it Norky I think you replied to my panicked threads about whether I would be able to breastfeed or not!

Ameda Elite is one I used- I did find the sterile pump kits the NCT provided wasn't as good as the ones I got from the hospital (opaque plastic instead of clear made it hard to see when milk finished) but I had some clear pump kits anyhow. So if you get an opaque kit it may be worth buying a clear kit (not sure where from though!).

Also keep your kit in the fridge- is fine for 24hours so you dont have to keep washing between pumps (because I had two kits I would alternate between them too!)- also actifeed bottles fit onto the pump kits and are gret for breastmilk storage (in fact the medela and ameda teats fit onto them so I have used them as bottles too!

Have you ever used an at breast supplementer? I also used that sometimes to maximise nipple stimulation rather than give DD the expressed milk in a bottle.

Apparently second time round it should be easier as boobs have been primed once (I hope so for subsequent DC's as we went through 12 weeks of hell to get feeding established!) so am sure you will be fine but defo would hire the ameda elite (i will be doing same for next DC) for the first couple months while your supply restablishes!

oh and here for cheaper pump hire than you mentioned!