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Home › Articles › Pumps and Pumping › Full Exposure

Full Exposure

Is Your Breast Pump Worth It?

By Ann Calandro

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A well-chosen manual pump may work well for you at work, too, especially if you have the type of job that allows plenty of time for breaks. Some mothers buy two of the type that may be operated with one hand and double pump manually. Avoid the ones that have a ball to squeeze or the "bicycle horn" type of pump. The bicycle horn one is difficult to clean and may harbor bacteria.

Electric Pumps
It would be hard to recommend a small, single electric breast pump from my point of view. Most of the ones I have gotten reports on have been very ineffective and are basically a waste of money. One works fairly well but has a very short warrantee. Ask around. There are some new pumps coming out that sound promising. Remember that babies suck around 50 times a minute and your breast pump should too.

For moms who are seriously interested in keeping a generous milk supply going while working, the more expensive double electric breast pumps that are for sale (between $200 to $300) or for rent at breast pump rental stations work wonderfully for most mothers. These pumps are quiet and pump with a short, quick "suck" (48 to 60 times per minute), so that several pumping breaks at work would be feasible. The cost is high, but the alternative to not pumping is purchasing artificial formula. The cost of this is usually over $100 a month. Taking that into consideration, the pump's cost doesn't seem quite as prohibitive.

Double pumping cuts pumping time in half, so most mothers can finish the whole pumping session in 10 to 12 minutes. Studies show that double pumping usually stimulates more milk production. One company makes a wooden foot pedal pump that works very well for double pumping, and it is not very expensive. (It reminds me of the old treadle sewing machines, which most of you have never seen!) Using that pump, moms get milk and exercise at the same time.


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