Hospital grade pump?

[milagros315]

Hi everyone. My son is just over two weeks old and breastfeeding isn't going well so I'm going to try EPing for awhile. I have a Medela PIS and I'm getting about 23 oz per day with that. I'm considering renting a hospital grade pump (I can get the Symphony for $70/month) for a few weeks to help establish a decent supply. Does anyone have experience with this? Will the hospital grade pump really make a difference to my supply?

[Deleted]

No experience with the hospital pump...

Have you tried power pumping? Every so often (when lo cluster feeds) I power pump once a day for 2-3 days and that has increased my supply each time.

[milagros315]

Jan 29, 2015 6:55:35 GMT -5 @nursesouder said:

No experience with the hospital pump...

Have you tried power pumping? Every so often (when lo cluster feeds) I power pump once a day for 2-3 days and that has increased my supply each time.

That's the 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off thing? I haven't tried that yet, but I will today!

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2015 7:00:51 GMT -5 milagros315 said:

Jan 29, 2015 6:55:35 GMT -5 @nursesouder said:

No experience with the hospital pump...

Have you tried power pumping? Every so often (when lo cluster feeds) I power pump once a day for 2-3 days and that has increased my supply each time.

That's the 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off thing? I haven't tried that yet, but I will today!

Yes, for an hour. Good luck!

[Widget123]

I wouldn't bother with a hospital grade pump, especially at that price. Consider trying Fenugreek or the like temporarily. Make sure you are drinking and eating enough. Try to be consistent with when you pump and add minutes gradually to your pumping time. Consider pumping more when prolactin is at its peak such as early morning.

[birch113]

I'm actually using a Symphony right now because I'm in the hospital with DS who has a UTI. I am thinking about renting it when we are released to help my supply as well. I get similar numbers to you. It seems to have helped my output, and that's while not eating, drinking, or sleeping nearly enough. Plus, it's so much more comfortable that the PISA. I've also heard good things about the Spectra S1 and S2. It's also hospital grade, just newer (not well know/big name). It's between $150 and $300 to buy, depending on the model.

[bootsorhearts]

For me, I could not establish or maintain my supply with anything other than the hospital grade because I found no other pump had enough suction. But everyone is different. If you are concerned about supply, try pumping more frequently with your current pump and if that's not cutting it you can try to change the pump and see what happens. Or just try it for a month and compare. If it's no different, then at least you'll know.

[ciaomama]

Jan 30, 2015 12:41:06 GMT -5 bootsorhearts said:

For me, I could not establish or maintain my supply with anything other than the hospital grade because I found no other pump had enough suction. But everyone is different. If you are concerned about supply, try pumping more frequently with your current pump and if that's not cutting it you can try to change the pump and see what happens. Or just try it for a month and compare. If it's no different, then at least you'll know.

All of this.  I had a low supply, BF didn't work out for us, and every other pump I tried didn't have enough suction.  IMO it's worth the money if it helps get/keep your supply up.  I rented a Medela Symphony for a little over 6 months.

[Shoe Crazy Me]

Check with your insurance, if you have maternity it will cover the cost of a Breastpump which may include rental depending on you plan.  I would definitely go with the hospital grade. 

[serejane]

The symphony is such a great pump! I used it for the 3 wks my girls were in the nicu and I would often get better output using that than with my Pisa.

[milagros315]

Thank you so much for all of your advice and opinions!

Right now, I'm still trying to give BFing a shot (BF during the day, bottle/pump at night). I'm going to see how much my son gains by his next appointment. If it seems like he's not growing well and we need to move on from BFing, I think I'll try the Symphony!

[lavwana]

I just got the spectra 2. It's hospital grade but was $227 on Amazon. I haven't tried it yet so can't say how well it works. Reviews were fantastic though and it'd pay for itself compared to $70 per month. My insurance will reimburse the purchase price of this which you may want to check as well.

[milagros315]

Jan 31, 2015 18:27:10 GMT -5 lavwana said:

I just got the spectra 2. It's hospital grade but was $227 on Amazon. I haven't tried it yet so can't say how well it works. Reviews were fantastic though and it'd pay for itself compared to $70 per month. My insurance will reimburse the purchase price of this which you may want to check as well.

Damn. I wish I had heard of this one before I bought the PISA. My insurance would have covered anything up to $500 :/

I hope it works well for you!

[carissalynp]

A hospital pump made a HUGE difference for me. I didn't think it would but my doula pushed me to try it. I rented a Hygeia Endeare for a few weeks, then ended up finding an Enjoye for only $100 brand new on craigslist. I get more milk and definitely in a shorter time. If you can swing it to rent, it's at least worth a try IMO.

ETA: I'm in an EP Facebook group and they rave about the Spectra 2 a lot!

[gldnbearz]

carissalynp - could you pm me about the EP FB group?

[carissalynp]

gldnbearz ygpm!

[gldnbearz]

Feb 1, 2015 12:12:43 GMT -5 carissalynp said:

gldnbearz ygpm!

Thanks!

[Deleted]

Hey, I just stumbled onto this board. Anyway, I am an EPer with a LO that's 5m/o. I get anywhere from 40 to 50 ounces a day. I have the Spectra S2 (fr amazon) and love, love, love.

[qlove1215]

I was an EP'r and the hospital grade pump made a world of difference. I would have quit with the PISA! My insurance covered the PISA and the pump for three months. It was $60 to rent after that but so worth it. I even traveled with it using an adapter for the car. There was no pain, it emptied me faster, was less annoying than the sound the PISA makes and was kind of my BFF for 7 months.

[arlhll2]

When I had my DD the pumps at the hospital were medela symphony. I loved them!!! DD was premie and tongue tied. After leaving the hospital, we bought a medela PIS until buying a symphony, and found it to be just as good. I didn't even bother with the symphony. However, my milk supply decreases and nothing I did helped. Talked to a lactation consultant and she advised me to take fenugreek and eat lots of oats plus drink water. Did that and nothing. Power pumped and nothing. Mind you I had pumped every two hours the whole time. Since my girl was little, the pediatrician had me put a scoop of similac neosure formula into my pumped milk anyways, and after completely drying up, I had no choice but to straight formula feed. Hoping this one is not tongue tied, as I would love to BF, but I like the PIS so if I EP, that's fine too. I know lots of moms take fenugreek or mothers milk tea and it helped them. Caffein can decrease milk supply also. If you go with a hospital grade pump, would it be worth it to buy one instead of rent it for that price? Depending on how long you wish to pump. Good luck.

[Deleted]

milagros315 how is it working out?

[milagros315]

Feb 5, 2015 1:21:22 GMT -5 @nursesouder said:

milagros315 how is it working out?

Things are going better. I EP'd for a few days with the PISA and that was tough because I was getting vasospasms in my nips. It freaked me out. I decided to try BFing again and that's been working much better! For now, I'm BFing during the day and bottle feeding/pumping at night. Hopefully we'll get to the point where I can just BF, but for now pumping at night with the PISA is working well enough.

Thanks for asking @nursesouder! And thanks again to everyone for the advice!

[birch113]

Jan 31, 2015 21:11:13 GMT -5 carissalynp said:

A hospital pump made a HUGE difference for me. I didn't think it would but my doula pushed me to try it. I rented a Hygeia Endeare for a few weeks, then ended up finding an Enjoye for only $100 brand new on craigslist. I get more milk and definitely in a shorter time. If you can swing it to rent, it's at least worth a try IMO.

ETA: I'm in an EP Facebook group and they rave about the Spectra 2 a lot!

I'm in that group, too! I ended up buying the Spectra S1 because of the rechargeable battery. For as much time as I spend pumping, not being tethered to an outlet is 110% worth the extra price!

[2jelplus1]

Hi ladies, for the past few weeks LO (4mo) has mostly refused boob during the day so I'm pumping/giving her 15-18oz a day and trending towards EP with the PISA. The thing is I don't think I can/will do it very long because I hate how it makes my boobs (especially my nipples) feel. I don't think I use more than 50% power on the PISA (the tugging is too much, and I was told not to use more power than necessary or I could collapse ducts)-- would the hospital grade pump still help me? I am constantly having an issue where when I hit 2.5-3oz (the amount LO drinks at once per side) the pump stops getting anything out, even if I go back to letdown mode, it gets a little if I do manual compressions but then once I take my boob out I can manually get another ounce of two...but it requires both hands and covers everything in milk.

[gldnbearz]

A hospital grade pump like the Medela Symphony is worth a try. I have the PISA and don't like the way it feels. The Symphony feels less harsh.

Have you replaced your PISA membranes recently? Not sure if that would help.

[2jelplus1]

Apr 9, 2015 20:09:29 GMT -5 gldnbearz said:

A hospital grade pump like the Medela Symphony is worth a try. I have the PISA and don't like the way it feels. The Symphony feels less harsh.

Have you replaced your PISA membranes recently? Not sure if that would help.

Yeah, I bought new membranes a few weeks ago which seems to have slightly improved output but doesn't help comfort..

[raechay]

I agree that the symphony feels less harsh than the pisa. They are both still harder on you than BFing though, unfortunately. The good(ish) news is, that with time you do become a bit desensitized to the pump (I have been EPing since LO was I think around 8 weeks old, now he's 15 weeks - and I have even stopped needing nip lube since 11 weeks). Definitely lube up before/after each session and that will help.

As for output - there is no question that a hospital pump will help you there. It is a lot more work to get the pisa to empty your boobs the way a symphony can (more time and compressions certainly, and I'm never convinced that it fully does the job when I need to use it in the car or at work...there are days I feel like there's still milk deeper back in my boob after I'm done pumping).

[2jelplus1]

Thanks everyone. Got the symphony, pumped an extra ounce and a half in slightly less time this morning. Is there a good way to use it to pump one side at a time? I hate the hands free bra and my arms hurt from holding both against my boobs for 20m. :/

[cloe111479]

Apr 15, 2015 13:37:59 GMT -5 2jelplus1 said:

Thanks everyone. Got the symphony, pumped an extra ounce and a half in slightly less time this morning. Is there a good way to use it to pump one side at a time? I hate the hands free bra and my arms hurt from holding both against my boobs for 20m. :/

I use our boppy and then my hands free bra at work. Just a thought

[raechay]

Maybe a different hands free bra would help? I love my Arden by Dairy Fairy. Why do you hate yours? As for the pump, you just have to open the top of the symphony and remove the circle part attached to the tube to pump one sided.