Things to Consider When Selecting a Breast Pump

There are a variety of considerations for choosing the best breast pump for your needs. Among these are, how often you’ll be needing to pump and what your pumping setup will look like on any given day. It’s most likely that you will be using a standard double electric breast pump. Most of these types of pumps need to be plugged in to operate. Some of these are available with battery-power but those that are battery-operated usually have smaller motors and because of this, are not quite as effective as pumps that need to be plugged in. For those of you who may be away for long periods of time, it is recommended that you avoid the battery-operated pumps so that you can have a pump with a more effective motor. However, if you’re in a position where you truly cannot stop to pump, one of the wearable pumps would be a good option for you. If you’ve struggled with milk supply in the past or you’re working hard to maintain your milk supply, a hospital grade pump is likely to be best.

If you are in the USA, your health insurance should cover the cost of a breast pump. To start your search, first take a look at what pumps your insurance offer. From there, look at the cost of any needed upgrades and what it is you desire from a pump. Insurance usually fully covers baseline pumps. If there’s a need for upgrades or something like a wearable pump, you may need to pay extra for that or use your HSA funds to cover the full-cost. There is no one best pump. So, to further narrow down your pump choice, after determining what is offered through you insurance; look at what pumps come with options to change flange-size, cycle speed and suction variations, do you need something that’s battery-operated, or is your setup such that plugging something in isn’t an issue?