Spectra S1 Plus Hospital Grade Double Electric Breast Pump with Rechargeable Battery, Blue

Trying to carry on breastfeeding when you've gone back to work can be a challenge for many reasons, but since getting the Spectra S1, the act of expressing isn't one of them. I use this 2-3 times every day at work, and it does the job perfectly. It's silent enough that it's not too embarrassing to use it whilst hiding in a toilet cubicle (incredibly undignified, but that's not the pump's fault!), and the built in battery ensures that it's possible to use the unit on the go.Battery life: Fantastic; I can use this for three days without recharging, if I'm expressing 2-3 times a day, with each session lasting 20-25min.Amount expressed: Slightly more than my baby's consumption. I base this on the fact that when I'm at work, I normally express somewhere between 10% and 30% more than he has when he's with the childminder.Night light: I wasn't expecting to use this feature, but when I went through a phase of feeding the little on just one side in the night, I found I needed to express on the other side because it was full to the brim. Expressing by nightlight meant that I didn't have to turn the room lights on to operate the pump, which helped prevent me from waking up too much to go back to sleep quickly once done.Double/single mode: You can use the pump in either double or single mode depending on your preference. Personally I use different settings for each side, so as you (understandably) can't set the suction and frequency per side, I use it in single mode.Massage mode: This "lets the milk down", and uses a high frequency of stimulation with very low suction. I never need to use this for more than 2 minutes before going on to express mode.Suction: The suction is more than adequate for my needs; the highest setting I ever use is 8, but it does go all the way up to 12. Of course everybody is different, but this should cater for most.Frequency: There are 5 frequency levels, which regulate the length of each cycle of suction. Increasing the frequency helps reduce any discomfort you might feel, so you can use quite a high level of suction if you use a higher frequency level.Overall action: It's a little difficult to explain how this feels, but in addition to the suction and frequency, there's a vibration in the unit - Spectra brand this as mimicking your baby's suckling, and I think this is a pretty good analogy. Suffice to say, I really feel that I've been able to use this at higher suction levels than other breastpumps because of how this feature works.Any snags? It's quite bulky. However, I expect this is what allows for the fantastic battery life, and personally I'm happy with that as a trade-off. It still fits happily in a backpack for taking to and from work. Oh, and if the bottle is empty or has very little in it, it won't sit steadily in the holder on the unit.Overall, I couldn't recommend this enough

We got this to help with boosting breastfeeding and milk production. After going to hospital we saw the difference between the equipment they had and a small breast pump we were using that had a silicone cup. The one we had before this was terrible and barely got a drop out. The first 10 seconds using this gave us the same volume as 10 minutes with the smaller one.This is easy to use. They only include 1 size of cone for attaching over the nipple, but if you are ok with sitting and holding the cone to the breast it isn't an issue. They do include all the equipment needed to pump both breasts at the same time and importantly you can also choose to use mains or battery power with the same quality and level of powerYou can choose to single pump by blocking a port or double pump at the same time.The controls allow for strength and frequency (number of sucks per minute) which is really good to help encourage more flow.It is very easy to use. There's no complicated instructions or procedure for use. When assembled and switched on you can start pumping in seconds. The cup, bottle and valves are all plastic and can be stripped down easily for easy sanitising and even a 3am pump is not too complicated to reassemble.The huge advantage with this is the battery power. You can charge it up and take it on the go or use it while plugged in. We will usually just have it charged and the Mrs will pump in the bedroom after each evening feed until morning.Good quality. Not cheap, but worth it. Recommended. Thank you for reading my review. I hope you found it useful

My twins were born early and were in the NICU, so I had to pump/express in order to mimic a newborn to produce milk. I was using a hospital grade pump, but I needed my own pump for at home. I came across the spectra, and bought it a couple months ago. It works very well if not better then the hospital grade pump for me. I've managed to express milk for my twins and was able to keep a freezer stash. I like the different settings, as I change the settings often to vary the stimulation to the nipples and I find that this also prevents them from getting sore. When my nipples did get sore from overuse of pumping and breastfeeding I was able to put it on a low setting so they didn't hurt and still express a good amount of milk. I also liked that it was portable, I was able to walk around the house while pumping, and when we were in the car I needed to pump, being portable allowed me to pump in the backseat while my husband drove. When I would use the pump at the hospital it actually stopped working, so I could only use the spectra, I think that has to do with the multiple settings and the prolonged pull of the nipple as it pumps to mimic the baby’s mouth reflex. Although with this pump you do need to order flange sizes separately, I needed to buy a couple different sizes to get the right fit, so consider this into the price, the inserts are about £15 a pair. I also wished there was more information in the leaflet on how to use the pump effectively, I needed to google how. With that said I really enjoy this pump it is definitely worth the price, and my babies have plenty of milk! Happy pumping everyone :)