As a stay-at-home mama, a breast pump isn’t the most necessary piece of baby equipment for me. But they certainly have their place, especially for working moms, or mothers who must be away from their children for several hours at a time. And an electric pump is a good thing to have around if you’re not very good at hand-expressing or using a manual pump (I cannot get ANY milk out with those methods).
As someone who is rather outspoken about breastfeeding, natural parenting, and related products, people often ask me what I think about a certain product, or ask for recommendations for baby carriers, breast pads, infant potties, and yes, breast pumps.
Normally, my answer about breast pumps went something like this,
“I’ve used several pumps – Medela Symphony (hospital grade), Simplisse (which I’ve heard great things about, but didn’t work at all for me personally), and Lansinoh Affinity (which works great, is tiny and cute, is relatively quiet, and my go-to). But if you’re a working mom and need to pump often, I’ve HEARD that Hygeia pumps are the most amazing, best quality for frequent/long-term use, and I KNOW for a fact that they have the best customer service out of any breast pump company, plus they’re WHO-code compliant*.”
I chat pretty frequently with Kate Gulbransen, the Social Media Manager at Hygeia, on twitter (@HygeiaKate) and I let her know a while ago that I’d love to try out one of the company’s pumps, so I can share my first-hand experience and impressions with friends and acquaintances when they ask about breast pumps.
Well a little while after Joey was born, Hygeia sent me this!
It’s their EnJoye Professional Breast Pump, and all of the goodies that go with it. The pump also comes in a really cute bag (available in black or brown), which – unlike some other breast pump bags (the Simplisse bag for example, has very little room in it once the pump and other bits are stored inside)– can be used as a diaper bag, and has lots of extra room even with the pump and all of the accessories in it.
Some things I like about the pump:
- It’s quieter than other pumps. I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison and it’s been a while since I used the others, but I remember trying to smother the other pumps with throw pillows or blankets while I was pumping. All breast pumps are going to have a bit of motor noise, but the EnJoye doesn’t seem as obnoxious. I haven’t buried it in pillows at any point.
- It has an internal battery that can be charged, so if you need to use your pump on-the-go (I’ve even heard of some mamas with long commutes pumping in the car with a hands-free bra while driving!) or in a place without a convenient electrical outlet, you have the option. There’s also an external battery pack you can plug into it, or you can (of course) plug it into the wall and use AC current.
- The pump parts come apart easily and are easy to wash. Other pumps have more finicky valves or less obvious assembly. I like the “duck bill” style valve best, and that’s the kind Hygeia uses.
- The pump has a “closed system” which means that any part that has the potential to touch mom’s body or milk can be replaced easily and inexpensively by buying a new “accessory kit.” I always cringe when I see people buying used Medela pumps on craigslist or other forums, from total strangers… because there can be contamination INSIDE the pump. This is a pump that can be shared (if each mother has her own “kit”), passed along, lent, and sold safely.
- Everything the milk touches is BPA-free (though I think that is true of most pumps these days, if not all of them).
- You can manually change the speed and intensity of the “suck” (I’m sure there’ s a better way to say that, but I claim post-partum-brain). Since every woman is different, each person will respond the best to a different “suckling pattern.” You can play around with it and determine what works best for you.
- It works really well.
- The customer service and support at Hygeia is excellent. Which is huge. I just have to say that a certain company that begins with an M may be popular and readily-available in Target, Wal-Mart, the NEX, and other stores, but their mediocre customer service is hugely apparent if you pay attention to them at all. And that is a BIG DEAL if you have a problem or need support.
Things I’m not so nuts about:
- The pump itself is a bit bulky and heavy. I’m sure there’s a reason it has to be that big, but it would be cool if it were smaller (like my so-cute Lansinoh Affinity).
- The bottle stands (to keep you from accidentally knocking over the bottles when you set them on the table) are separate – just another thing to lose. (Sorry, but last comparison to Lansinoh Affinity – the bottles fit right into indentations in the pump itself, which I loved.)
- There’s no automatic “let-down mode.” I like pumps where you can push a button and it’ll switch to let-down mode for 2 minutes or whatever, and then switch back to regular pumping… because when I’m breastfeeding, I don’t have to tell my baby when to switch suckling patterns… he just does it. So if I have to stop and think about increasing suction and slowing the speed, then decreasing suction and increasing speed to try to get a let-down, all manually… it reminds me that I’m at a machine, not a baby. There IS a psychological aspect to pumping, and the more I think “This is a pump!” the harder it is to express milk. That’s why people often suggest looking at a picture of your baby or smelling one of your baby’s blankets while you pump.
- Hygeia does address the psychological aspects – by providing a record/playback button, so you can hear your baby crying (or cooing or whatever) “on command” to assist with let-down. There’s also a “door” on the front, where you can tape baby’s photo. I think all of this is kind of weird… maybe it helps other women but it seems like too many “extras” for me. The crying doesn’t help me (I did record some and try it), and if I want to see a picture of my son, I can look at my phone.
Here are some of my pumping “results.” All of these except one are combined milk from both breasts. I’m posting these because THIS IS NORMAL. So many people talk about overflowing bottles, or getting 6 ounces at a time, and so forth. But those people are super-producing cow-goddesses. Or they’ve had more practice with a pump and have taught their bodies to respond to it better. Or they are pumping while away from their baby like at work(as opposed to pumping as “extra” sessions, WHILE feeding a baby 100% of their milk intake at-breast).
Normal pumping output for moms who are nursing full-time is between 1/2 and 2 ounces total, for both breasts.
If you get results like mine (or even less milk than this) when you pump, YOU ARE NORMAL. This isn’t “a bad pumper” or a bad pump. Pumping is a lot of work. That’s why you’ll hear breastfeeding moms joking about how, “you’re allowed to cry over spilled milk if you’ve ever pumped 1.5 ounces in 30 minutes” and so forth.
The amount of milk you express when pumping will also never match the amount of milk your child gets when he or she nurses (barring issues like tongue-ties or lip-ties, malformed palates, etc). NO pump is as efficient as a baby or child with a good latch.
Do you pump?
What are your pumping needs? Working out of the home full-time? Pumping for an occasional babysitter or night out? Are you exclusively pumping to provide your non-nursing baby breast milk? Pumping to donate?
What pumps have you tried? What did you like or dislike about them? Have you heard anything about Hygeia before this post?
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
Thank you for posting this! I need to find a pump as I’m going back to work in a month (blah). In addition to dreading leaving my baby girl for 8+ hours per day, I’ve also been very worried about pumping enough. To date, when I pump using the rented hospital grade Ameda, I get 1.5 to 2 ounces at most. Until I saw this post, I’ve been convinced there is something wrong with me. I usually only pump once or twice per day…typically in the wee hours of the morning when my supply is high (my little nugget is on the boob so often that I can’t figure out how to find time to pump). Since I don’t have much of a supply built up…I’m hoping to get great results from the pump I plan to buy. I’ll be one unhappy mama if I have to supplement her. Anywho…I’ve been trying to decide between the Hygeia and the Ameda Purely Yours. If you had to buy one or the other, which would you go with?? Thanks again for the post…this non-cow-goddess appreciates the resauurance that I’m just normal.
I had never heard of Hygeia before this post. I ended up with the Ameda Purely Yours and I’ve been pleased with it. Even though most everyone recommended Medela, I went with Ameda because my work has hospital grade Ameda pumps in the lactation rooms. Since Ameda uses a closed system (like Hygeia it sounds like) I am able to keep my pump at home, and just take the kit to and from work.
The recording feature is interesting. I basically created that on my own using my iPhone – if I need help with let down I just pull up pictures of my daughter, or if I really need to hear her, I look at videos on my phone. I know one woman who also brings a onesie that smells like her son so more of her senses can be stimulated when she’s pumping.
I think the hardest part about pumping as a working mom has been taking the ups and downs in stride. There are days/weeks when I’m producing a little bit more than what my daughter is eating and I feel great. And then a few days go by where I barely pump what she eats and/or less than what she eats. I was able to build up a stash early on (before my milk regulated itself) and so we have plenty of bags in the freezer, but my brain still always jumps to “oh no, my milk is going away” instead of being able to use the logical part of my brain to say “oh, not making as much today, that’s okay, my production will probably be back to normal later in the week.”
Ah, the things we are able to worry and stress about. I think it’s so important to share as many stories as possible because most of the time, there is someone out there going through the same thing.
Your review just goes to show how all we look for different things in the same product. I wouldn’t be bothered by no let-down mode, but I love the fact that it has a photo slot and recording device. I have been using a Medela that is a hand-me-down from my cousin, and it works well, but your review would definitely sell me on the Hygeia if I had to buy a new one.
I am a full-time working Mom and love my Hygeia! I have only used Hygeia and chose this pump because of its warranty and the reusable factor – one less item in a landfill.
I honestly love this pump and believe that this is the best purchase I have made since becoming a Mom. It is reliable, and that is all I need when it comes to my son’s food.
I have pumped with both a medela pump-in-style and with the Hygeia — I loved so many things about the Hygeia (mostly all the things you mentioned!)… but I got more milk in general via the Medela. I was pumping at work while away from my bean, but I tend to be one of those cow-goddess mamas you mention
. I would use the medela at work and the Hygeia at home / evenings/weekends when I couldn’t nurse or if I wanted to build up my stash. Which I now have, in my freezer, and baby girl is done with bottles (although still nursing) so I don’t know what to do with my stash.
decaturmamaoftwo – try find another mama who needs your stash! I happen to suffer from extremely low milk supply and am currently nursing, pumping after nursing sessions, and supplementing with breastmilk I got from a friend of a trusted friend. I am SO GRATEFUL that I found this amazing cow-goddess of a woman who pumps lots of extra milk.
I use an Ameda Purely Yours breastpump. I get more milk with this pump than I did with a Medela Pump in Style. And I also appreciate that the bottles fit right into the pump on this one too. It is rather loud though.
I’ve been using the Hygeia now for over a year since I had to go back to work. I have never had any issues! I love this pump, but then again I have never had any reason to try another one to compare. I just call home (well even thinking about calling home while I get everything set up to hear baby’s, well now toddler’s little voice gives me that super sweet rush of hormones!) and I have never needed pictures or to use the recording. I have a relatively quick let down though – another reason why the fact that there’s no “let-down” button hasn’t bothered me. I love the Hygeia company, the ease of use of the pump, and the options to use battery or plug-in. I mainly plug-in but have used the battery when traveling for work. I also use a hands free bra cause it’s easier and I like to multi-task!
I’ve been using the Hygeia now for over a year since I had to go back to work. I have never had any issues! I love this pump, but then again I have never had any reason to try another one to compare. I just call home (well even thinking about calling home while I get everything set up to hear baby’s toddler’s little voice gives me that super sweet rush of hormones!) and I have never needed pictures or to use the recording. I have a relatively quick let down though – another reason why the fact that there’s no “let-down” button hasn’t bothered me. I love the Hygeia company, the ease of use of the pump, and the options to use battery or plug-in. I mainly plug-in but have used the battery when traveling for work. I also use a hands free bra cause it’s easier and I like to multi-task!
Just wanted to offer another reason why a woman might need to pump- if her baby was born sick or premature and they are separated while her baby is in hospital. A pump helps the mother to establish a milk supply for when her baby needs it, which might be a month or more after the birth. In this case a pump becomes more than an optional extra- it becomes one of the most precious, vital things she can do for her baby.
Absolutely true. In this case though you would need a hospital grade pump, not personal. Hygeia’s hospital grade pump is EnDeare. Personal pumps are decent for maintaining supply (if you make sure to pump often enough) but shouldn’t be used to ESTABLISH supply in the first place.
My boys are now 9yo and 6yo. When they were born, I knew that I was going back to work/school at 6wks, and I didn’t want to have to fight with nipple confusion or finding the right bottles. So I pumped fulltime for each of them, for a year. (I never put them to the breast, just started pumping as soon as I was able to after giving birth.) I had a Medela Classic for the home (it is a beast of a machine, and is just awesome) and a Medela Pump In Style for my car. At that time, Medela was the go-to brand, and those pumps really worked hard for me.
I have heard of Hygeia pumps before, but as I’m no longer allowed to make babies, I have not bothered to get familiar with them.
It’s nice to hear that small amounts are normal. I never produced enough to build up a supply in the freezer, and by the time I returned to work we were 50/50 with breast and formula, and after a few weeks back at work it changed to 100 formula. I was a momma who cried over any drop of milk that didn’t get into the baby’s body.
I’d never heard of them before you mentioned them on Instagram. I bought the Medela like everyone else. The good thing about it is that my health care provider also uses them so when they gave me parts to use in the hospital to help my milk come in, and during lactation appts (Kaiser really is pro-breastfeeding) I could use them at home.
I had some serious overproduction issues (recurrent horrible mastitis and plugged ducts) so I was often pumping to just release the engorgement, and then eventually to have a surplus for when I went back to work. When I went back to work I was pumping 4 times a day in order not to get plugged ducts and it worked fine. I hated the bag though (you can’t fit anything else in it, not even all your pump parts if you pump a lot like me), and the fact that you can’t take the pump out of the bag, or charge it. I also came to hate what my friend referred to as the Medela “colostrum yellow” color theme.
I finally got my production waaaay down (due in part to mastitis that may have permanently damaged one side, but also sage – yay, sage!) but knew I would need to pump a couple of times on a work trip so I bought the manual Medala one. It seemed great, but boy am I glad I only used it once. The swivel is annoying and I could get more out by hand.
My biggest complaint though is that it is not a closed system. I would love to pass my pump along to a mama when I’m done with babies, but I can’t…maybe that is why they don’t do it. Had I had it to do over, I might have gone with the Hygeia
This is the first time I’ve read your blog from my computer (usually I’m clicking over on my phone while on Instagram) so this is the first time I’ve commented! I pumped during the school year with Janie and plan to do the same with this baby. I thought it would be easy – just pump one or two times during the day, in place of the feedings I was missing – but you are so right about babies being more efficient nursers. I had to pump in the morning on the opposite side that Janie was nursing, then during my work day, again in the afternoon on the opposite side of Janie, and then one more time after I put her to bed (she slept through the night very early on, but I continued to use that feeding time to pump more) in order to have enough milk for her without supplementing. It was exhausting. But definitely worth it. I use a Medela Freestyle – which I highly recommend. Anyway, it was interesting reading about another pump and your tips!