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One of the most daunting aspects of new-motherhood, at least as someone who is pregnant with their first baby, is the whole breastfeeding ordeal. Whenever someone describes what it entails — nursing, latching, pumping, dumping, etc. —I start to picture Russell Crowe’s character in A Beautiful Mind when he’s about to crack the code, except that my lightbulb moment never arrives. I’m so intimidated by the whole thing, but since there’s no going back, the only option is to figure it out. The best place to start? With the most intimidating part: breast pumps, a.k.a. the strange, torture-adjacent devices you would never interact with if it weren’t for the joys of parenting.
“Given a good education, the intention to breastfeed, and the right support, you’re going to make it,” Corky Harvey, RN, MS, founder of the Pump Station, assures me. “Is it easy? Not necessarily. But it’s worth it.”
Here’s everything she and other experts taught me about breast pumps, along with a shortlist of the best to buy among the seemingly endless options.
So, you’re on the hunt for the best breast pumps?
➼ FAQs
➼ Best breast pumps
➼ Our experts
Best Breast Pumps
The Best Hospital-Grade Breast Pump
The Pump Station Plus Hospital-Grade Breast Pump
In addition to repeated recommendations for this pump by the Pump Station founder Corky Harvey, RN, MS, many new and veteran mothers also recommended the Medela Symphony as their top pick without qualifications. This pump is a sure bet when it comes to efficient milk release, as it’s been proven to achieve faster letdown and milk flow than other pumps. It can really help in the early days of establishing your milk supply, and it’s especially great for those who are exclusive pumpers or who need a little extra help with their supply even as they get into the swing of pumping. It’s by far the priciest model on this list, but it can be rented from the hospital for a reasonable monthly fee.
The Best Double-Electric Pump and Best Overall
Spectra Baby S1 Plus Portable Pump
Somewhere around 70 percent of moms I spoke to recommended this breast pump, including Pediatrician Caryn Cassidy, MD, FAAP, at Tenth Street Pediatrics. “It’s the one I use at home, and I find that most of my friends also use it,” she says. “I love it because it’s convenient and easy.” Harvey likewise recommends this pump. “All of us at the Pump Station are Spectra fans,” she says.
$216 at Amazon
$217 at Target
$217 at buybuy Baby
The Best Portable Breast Pump
Medela Freestyle Hands-Free Breast Pump
This is Harvey’s top recommendation in the portable category, and she notes that a company which tested over 100 pumps ranked it No. 1. “It’s a really good pump,” she says. It’s powerful enough to be used as a primary pump for busy moms, with output that more or less matches the brand’s Pump in Style, a heftier double-electric, and yet it weighs less than one pound. Its battery lasts for about two hours, and it comes with a USB cable for on-the-go charging. And it’s easy to use with just four buttons and a nice-to-have bluetooth function that allows you to connect with the Medela app in order to control your settings and monitor your output. It’s also easy to wash — the collection cups are made up of just three parts.
$370 at Amazon
The More Affordable Portable Breast Pump
BabyBuddha Breast Pump Hands Free
When it comes to portable pumps, social media seems to have a favorite, which Harvey also recommends: The Baby Buddha. “It sucks you dry,” says one high-powered mother-of-two I spoke with. “I hate pumping so much I only want to do it if I’m being maximally efficient.” It’s known for being small — it can literally fit in your pocket — but mighty. It provides an easily customizable experience as well, boasting 14 different suction settings, including a simulation mode with five settings and an expression mode with nine. It can also be used as either a double or single pump, and has a battery life of around one hour. And while it comes with bottles, it can be used with collection cups for more discreet wear. It’s great for exclusive pumpers who want to be able to multitask while they pump or anyone who, like the busy mom I spoke to, just wants to do the most in the least amount of time.
$200 at Amazon
Another Affordable Option
Pumpables Genie Advanced Portable Breast Pump
This is another fan-favorite portable, which Dr. Cassidy recommends based on her own experience. “I get good output with it, and it’s easy to move around,” she says. As her review suggests, the Genie Advanced is a powerful and lightweight pump. It is a bit heftier than the Baby Buddha, but its battery lasts longer — three to four hours — and it’s also a bit gentler, suction-wise, according to moms who have tried both. The shield kit that comes with this pump, called The Liquid Kit, is also known for being super comfortable. Overall, this is a great option for a primary pump or for a secondary pump you can easily transport to and from work and other outside-the-home destinations.
The Splurge-worthy Breast Pump
Babyation The Pump
“This pump was way more comfortable than any other pump I had used prior,” says mother-of-two Danielle Finke, who liked the pump so much that she signed on to do PR for the brand. It’s also designed in an innovative way that allows you to pump hands-free without a pumping bra, and unlike other pumps, you can even lie down while pumping. This unique design also means you only have to clean the flanges between uses; however, it also features disposable tubing that cannot be reused and therefore has to be disposed of every 24 hours, leading to ongoing tube purchases.
The Best Wearable Breast Pump
Elvie Pump
Wearable-pump recommendations can be divisive. When it comes to this one, the moms who loved it really loved it — mainly because it’s discreet, lightweight, and easy-to-use. “I could wear it while doing photoshoots, and the parts to wash were small. It takes a minute to figure out latching, but I loved it,” says mother of two Nicky Deam. This app-connected smart pump monitors your output and automatically stops when you’ve reached five ounces per shell. It also has a new feature, SmartRhythm settings, which allow you to customize your suction and optimize your output, as well as seven intensity settings. The battery lasts for approximately 2.5 hours.
$299 at Elvie
The Best Affordable and Wearable Breast Pump
Imani i2 Plus Wearable Breast Pump
For a more affordable wearable, Harvey recommends this new version from Imani. “It’s our favorite wearable by a lot,” she says. And while it’s not quite as discreet as some other wearables, she finds that most moms don’t care about the “discreet” aspect of these pumps as much as they do about the “wearable” aspect. It features five stimulation settings and five expression settings, but it will not switch between the two automatically — you have to remember to do it manually mid-pump. It also doesn’t track your output, or how long you’ve been pumping, in any way, so you’ll have to do all the timing work yourself.
The Super Affordable and Wearable Breast Pump
Muu Pump Pair
This might just be the least intimidating breast pump on the market. “The Muu is a brand-new pump created by a fellow mom that is simple, affordable and both hands-and-wires free,” says mother of three Amanda Eberstein. “I love to use it while feeding my little one — it’s great for catching excess milk — and it’s also ideal for days when I’m on the go.” It has no motor and is not electric; instead, it relies on natural suction that you can think of more like the steady suck of a passive pumping session versus the full-force suckle of a motorized pump. The suction level is, however, manually adjustable by squeezing more or less air out of the bulb before attaching it to the breast — the more air you squeeze, the more intense the suction.
The Fully-Covered-by-Insurance Wearable Breast Pump
Lansinoh® Discreet Duo™ Wearable Pump
This wearable offering from trusted pump brand Lansinoh is brand new as of January, at which time it was made available through insurance only. It is now available to all moms for purchase, but it also remains available through insurance as the only wearable pump you can get without paying an out-of-pocket upgrade fee. Since Medicaid recipients aren’t eligible for out-of-pocket upgrades, this is the first wearable pump available to those individuals through insurance. It’s lightweight, discreet, easy to use, and powerful, with four pumping modes and nine levels of suction. And while this is not a smart pump, it does track your pumping and will shut off after 20 minutes; however, it doesn’t tell you how much milk you’ve pumped or otherwise provide real-time feedback. Moms report that it’s fairly intuitive to use, relatively quiet, and easy to clean, and that it’s also easy to transfer milk from this pump without spilling.
The Best Manual Breast Pump
Medela Manual breast pump with Flex Shields
Though she does say she rarely sees moms use manual pumps, Harvey puts this one at the top of her list for the category. It features a simple, no-frills design that makes it easy to transport and use for times when you’ll be away from your baby for a few hours or need to just relieve a bit of pressure from your breasts. Thanks to technology incorporated into the handle, you can manually switch between stimulation and expression suction modes. As a nice bonus, it’s designed with a swiveling handle so that you can switch hand positions as often as needed during a pumping session. “It’s easy to travel with and allowed me to pump anywhere,” says mother-of-two Margie Stein. “I often felt like I was able to pump more milk with this hand pump than with my electric pump. Plus it kind of felt like I was getting an arm workout!”
$24 at Amazon
The Most Comfortable Breast Pump
Annabella Electric Breast Pump
The Annabella is a new pump that’s been seven years in the making. Unsatisfied with what she saw as antiquated “vacuum”-pump technology, founder Masha Walberg set out to create something that operated more naturally. The result is the Annabella, which incorporates technology designed to simulate the unique motion of a breastfeeding baby’s tongue for optimized milk production. “The actual pumping part feels so much nicer (more like a baby’s tongue) than a regular pump,” says new mom Leah-Vail Soloff. “The flange also feels amazing, so soft and easy to pull over the nipple.” This innovative pump features a knob that can manually adjust the size of the breast shield or flange, which is a super-helpful way for mothers to find their best fit initially and also to easily adjust the fit over time without having to buy and try out different size breast shields. The downside to this pump is that it’s a single pump rather than a double. “It took 30 minutes and yielded less milk than a ten-to-15 minute Spectra session where I can wear both pumps at the same time,” says Soloff. “But I hate pumping during the day, and when I have to do it I think this is a super easy way to get in a low-pain pump session.” Walberg says the double-pump version is coming soon.
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Erin Bunch , 2024-05-07 22:30:27
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