Breast pumps

Thanks Zachzoe!  Do you remember where you rented it from in Austin?  I'm in the Austin area and would love to check this option out. 

Babytrz1, Check with your health insurance provider. A new breast pump may be covered under durable medical equipment. I received a brand new Medela double electric PIS without any deductible/co-pay through my health insurance. I have another friend that had it on her registry and I told her to check with her carrier and sure enough it was also covered for er. Just a suggestion before you splurge on rental and equipment fees. Good luck.

Zachzoe,

What was the name of the local store in Austin that you used ? Thanks

the electronic two pump worked good for me beause i was i school and a single mom so i didn't have time to pump the breast and cook and hold the baby at the same time plus it keeps a steady pace its good for your breast and hands lol and if the baby going to daycare  you can let it punp for you to store the milk in the freezer and send it to daycare so she/he will have breast milk when gone

It depends on what you want it for. If it's for pumping at work you will want an electric portable one. I have the Medela pump in style and am very happy with it. It's a double pump and is electric. They say the electric is better for maintaining your milk supply. The rental pumps are perfectly safe. The hospital grade pumps are designed for rental use and so are made differently from the portable ones (they cost over $1000) so that contamination is not an issue. Hospital grade is good if you don't need a portable unit as they are superior for building and maintaining your milk supply. I had a rental for the  first three months while I was home on maternity leave (I had to pump every 2-3 hours for the first month until my daughter learned to breastfeed). Then I got a portable Medela pump in style. I was very fortunate my insurance covered the cost of both (definitely check, I had blue cross/blue shield). At the end of three months I turned in my rental and got the portable one. If you only want to have a pump for occasional use, you can get a hand pump to save $$ but they are a lot more work and pumping each side separately is time consuming.

Nobody told me that manual breast pumping could hurt worse than nursing...Are electric pumps the same way?

I have 4 children breast fed them all there is a 10yr difference since having my last one and this time my mom bought me a Medela pump in style, best thing ever after a couple of weeks and your milk coming in . They are expensive but worth every dime.

I have been using an electric pump for the past 4 months and I "love it".   I can pump like 6 ounces of milk in 10 minutes.  I usually pump like 5 times a day and usually get 750 mls of milk.