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Philips AVENT BPA Free Twin Electric Breast Pump, White
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Model Of Item : SCF314/02
Product Brand : Philips Avent
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Philips AVENT BPA Free Twin Electric Breast Pump, White
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Customer Review :
Really good pump! : Philips AVENT BPA Free Twin Electric Breast Pump, White
My review will compare this pump to the Medela Pump-in-Style (aka "PiS") and the hospital-grade Medela Symphony pumps.
So you understand where I'm coming from, I've had a perceived, if not actual, low supply issue since giving birth to my son in January, a lot of which I'm sure had to do with the fact that I did not breastfeed as often as I should have from day one. (Lesson learned, and hopefully next time I'll do better with breastfeeding.) I take brewer's yeast tablets 4x/day, fenugreek 4x/day, and blessed thistle twice a day, but my supply hasn't increased as a result, and now I am afraid to stop taking them. My son sleeps through the night in 8-9 hour stretches, which is unbelievably great for me, but it has also not helped my supply in that I nurse or pump right before putting him down and then don't nurse or pump again for quite a while. I just don't have the willpower to get up in the middle of the night just to pump when my baby is still sleeping soundly!
As such, I started with a normal-to-low milk supply, and now I don't have much of a supply at all anymore. As an example, first thing this morning, I gave my baby a bottle and pumped for somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes. I pumped about an ounce and a half total, from both sides. If I'm really lucky, I'll pump two ounces total first thing in the morning. Subsequent pumping sessions usually yield about one ounce total, if that. As such, it takes me more than a day (or longer, depending on how many times I nurse him) to pump an amount large enough to provide one bottled breastmilk feeding for my son! Therefore I have a real need for a good pump that expresses as much breastmilk as possible. If I didn't have one, I would have already quit breastfeeding and pumping altogether by now. (Those lucky souls who can pump 8 ounces in a pumping session, I envy you!!!)
Back in week one, my sister gave me her breast pump (that was our sister-in-law's) to use until I figured out what I wanted to do with breastfeeding. It was a Medela Pump-in-Style that was already four years old. It did get a lot of use by the previous two users (note that I don't recommend getting a used pump unless you know the previous user(s) very, very well, and note that most pumps, including the PiS, are only guaranteed for a year - the motors are not supposed to last much longer than that), but the motor still appeared to work well. It came with 24mm breast shields, which I found painful, and the controls were difficult to use while pumping. Starting and stopping or changing the speed or strength of suction was impossible when your hands were otherwise occupied with the pump.
Shortly thereafter, I went to the lactation consultant and rented the Medela Symphony hospital-grade pump, and I also bought 27mm breast shields. I definitely liked the Symphony with the 27mm shields better than the PiS with the 24mm shields and told myself I would never subject myself to the PiS ever again! The output was much better with the Symphony, and it was definitely gentler and more comfortable, but renting it from the hospital cost me $75 a month. At roughly $1200, buying it was not an option. I figured why spend another $75 (so $150 total) on another month's rental of the Symphony when I could put that money towards a new personal-use pump. I thought about buying a brand-new Medela pump, since I had all the extra parts and whatnot to accommodate my needs, but after my experience with the Pump-in-Style, I decided that Medela probably wasn't for me.
I looked into Avent pumps, since I knew they had the soft breast shield inserts, and I was surprised to see that this pump had gone down in price from nearly $300 to about $170 when the newer model was released. (The price did drop again a few days after I bought it, but what can you do - Amazon's price was definitely better than Target and WAY better than Babies `R Us.) I was glad that the reviews were so good, since I liked idea of the petal inserts to the breast shields that are a bit more natural than the hard plastic Medela shields (though Medela does offer the ComfortFit shields, they only come in 24mm). I figured, what the hey, since I got a Prime membership through Amazon Moms and would get free two-day shipping, just in time for me to have to return the hospital-grade pump.
I have not been disappointed! This Avent pump is even quieter than the Medela Symphony hospital-grade pump and MUCH quieter than the PiS, the controls are easier than both, and the output is equal to the Symphony. I use the petal inserts, which makes the breast shields 24mm (removing the inserts makes them 27mm), and even though they're a little small for me, pumping this way is actually more comfortable than using the 27mm shields with no insert. I love the ability to do a quick "let-down" pump, then set a slower pace, which mirrors natural breastfeeding and is what the hospital-grade Symphony did automatically. I like that the controls are in your hand, so you don't have to remove your hands from the shields to start/stop/change speed, plus the setup and pace-setting is really easy to do. The pump comes with a great quick-start guide so you can literally get going in minutes. I was able to set it up and get pumping by the pictures without even having to read the instructions. I still haven't had the need to pick up the full instructions!
The motor portion itself is small and actually kind of cute (it looks like the girl robot in Wall-E), so it doesn't look like some crazy contraption (so you don't have anyone over your house asking what that huge bag with the tubes coming out of it is), nor does it take up a lot of space. Unlike the PiS, it is removable from its bag, so if you are not transporting it anywhere, you can just put the bag away if you want. The bag itself is rather large, but it comes with some great accessories, and I actually like the bag! If I had to take it anywhere, I'd definitely have room for the pump and requisite parts, as well as any other accessories needed, such as sterilizing wipes or a nursing cover.
Another plus to the Avent Pump is that it is a "closed" pumping system. As long as the diaphragm is dry, you won't have a problem with moisture getting into the tubing and then molding, which was a constant problem with both Medela pumps (though Medela will send you free replacement tubing if you call them). The Avent electrical cord is also much longer than the PiS, so I can sit in a more comfortable place and pump.
I don't use the Avent bottles for anything other than pumping (I store in the Medela storage bottles, since they're already bought and paid for, then use Born Free bottles to feed), but I know other moms who use Avent bottles and love them. The fact that it is BPA-free is great (as are Born Free bottles - I don't know about Medela, but I assume so), and overall I like them. However, I can't speak to the convenience of going from pumping into them to feeding from them.
I only have two complaints with this pump. One is that, as someone mentioned, a fair amount of milk collects under the diaphragm, above the bottle, and so when you are disassembling the shields/diaphragms/bottles/etc., you have to make a point not to spill the milk that's collected under the diaphragm. It can be a bit of a pain, and today, for example, I fumbled the assemblies on my way into the kitchen and spilled that milk onto my kitchen floor. Since I am only able to pump so much in one sitting, losing it was really disappointing! (Some milk does get into the breast shield and under the petal insert, but that happened to me with both Medela pumps, too. I think that's unavoidable regardless of what kind of pump you use.) The other complaint is that there is no option for a larger breast shield size with or without the petal inserts. Like I said, I need 27mm shields, which are what comes with the pump, but with the inserts, they are 24mm, which I can barely get away with. If you need larger or smaller breast shields than that, you are out of luck, since the breast shields are permanently attached to the larger assembly. The PiS was like that, but Medela at least had the option of buying larger or smaller breast shields and then buying the rest of the assembly parts relatively inexpensively so that you could still put it all together and personalize it.
My suggestions to Avent are (1) to make the assembly such that you can use larger breast shields (and to make petal inserts to go with them) and (2) to add a timer to the pump so that I don't have to remember when I started/when I need to stop. I know some other companies' pumps have that, so I don't think it's impossible, and it would be a great convenience.
Overall, though, I am extremely glad that I purchased this pump and have not regretted buying it or not continuing to rent the hospital-grade pump, even with my low supply. I've been using it happily (and regularly) for about three weeks now and have no complaints other than what I've already mentioned. I am also on a nursing/pumping binge right now in an attempt to increase my supply, so if I have any good or bad news to share, I will update my review.
