In the months prior to the birth of my son in December 2015, I had made a list of everything that we would need for him. One of those things was a breast pump. I had asked friends which brand they would recommend and I had settled on the Medela Swing Breast Pump. I had thought that I could pump some milk for my son’s evening feed and allow my husband to feed it to him. That would also acquaint him to the bottle early on. However, I thought this was something you did after month one so I hadn’t bought the breast pump when I gave birth. Well, as it transpired I wasn’t overflowing with milk after I had given birth and I was desperately trying to encourage my milk to come in. The day after I gave birth, we sent out my mother-in-law in search of a breast pump. The Medela wasn’t in stock so she bought a hand pump. Although, it worked, it was hard on the hands. Perhaps I wasn’t used to the reality of pumping but I was literally watching each drop of milk fall in the bottle.
A few days later, we did get the Medela Swing Breast Pump and the fact that it’s electric made it easier to pump. It is still strenuous to hold it to your breast and massage your breast with the other hand to stimulate the letdown. I know that women who had a lot of milk could use it and get 90m or more in 10 minutes. For me, each drop mattered and it took a long time. In the end I found that using my fingers to hand pump was more efficient. However, I would still recommend the Medela Swing Breast Pumpfor anyone looking for a breast pump even though at almost £100 it isn’t a cheap buy. It isn’t necessary to get a double pump though unless you have a lot of milk or want to feed twins.