My daughter was born 6 weeks premature, and began her stay in the Special Care Nursery (SCN). After an extremely rough time establishing & maintaining my milk supply with my first child (when I owned both the Medela Swing & Freestyle breast pumps), I was extremely anxious that my milk supply would not meet the requirements of my newborn, especially being that she was prem - and in my opinion needed the nutrients and immunity support of breast milk so much more than a full term baby.
Rachel and her new baby Bethany
The Medela Symphony pumps in the mummies' feeding rooms at the SCN worked great, but I looked into purchasing it and not only did I find it wasn't available in Australia, but even if it was, it would cost more than $4000. What a joke! I did end up finding out that I could hire it at around $140 per month from a pharmacy. Being that I had no choice, and building my milk supply from the beginning was the most important task post-birth that I had, I hired the Symphony from the chemist and felt dismal about the fact that I was spending such HUGE money on a rental. I started to Google hospital grade breast pumps to see what else was out there, and came across Spectra breast pumps. I then spoke with the lactation consultant at the hospital and told her my pump sadness. She mentioned the Spectra too! A few hours later as I sat in the feeding room pumping with 3 other mummies, and 2 of them also said they had heard great things about Spectra. After 3 mentions over a 24-hour period, I decided to contact Spectra to find out how I could try one out for myself! The Spectra support team told me that I could hire a pump from Sweet Beats. It was $80 per month, nearly half the cost of my current hire! I placed my order online, and had the pump delivered to my door the next day. SO convenient - especially because I was still unable to drive following my caesarian. I tried the Spectra S2 side-by-side with the Symphony, and I was amazed. Not only did the S2 extract all my milk faster on the side which is normally stubborn, but it also felt more comfortable and not as painful when turned up high compared to the Symphony. After continuing the use of both pumps, I was so happy - I hands down picked the Spectra over the Medela.
Getting stronger - thanks to her mum's super pumping efforts![/caption] I was extremely happy to return the Symphony hire pump and hold onto the Spectra. I even decided to purchase a Spectra, as I plan on continuing use of the pump for the next 12-18 months. I decided to purchase the Spectra S1 to take advantage of the rechargeable battery. I have already used it in the car twice over the last week - what an efficient use of my time!! Thank you Spectra, from the bottom of my heart. This has made something which I assumed would be stressful into something I am proud of. Not only has my milk supply been increasing through use of this pump, but in the 4 weeks of my daughter's life I have been able to fulfil her milk requirements without formula, and I have over 7 litres of milk in the freezer! I am currently able to pump approx. 950 ml per day, compared with my daughter's current need of 480ml.
Happy to be home & thriving!
I will be telling all the new mummies out there that a Spectra breast pump is a MUST when starting a new family! My daughter has now been discharged from hospital and is thriving at home. I am one very happy breastfeeding and milk pumping mummy! Thanks so much to Rachel and Bethany for sharing such a beautiful story! We wish you all the best :) Would you like to share your experience with your Spectra breast pump? Contact us today and remember to SHARE on Facebook! This post was originally featured at Sweet Beats and has been reposted with permission.
