Tested and Recommended: Medela Harmony

June 14, 2012
Oh, the irony! My other breastpump stopped working the day this pump arrived at my doorstep.

The said pump

I think it served the intended purpose of the purchase, which is as a back up if power supply interrupted or any other emergency cases. Such as, when the main pump break down. *sigh*

Trying it for the first time at work, I regretted for not buying this pump sooner since I did had the thought of buying it as early as 2 weeks into my confinement period. But whatever happened, happened for a reason right? So here is my verdict for...

Manual Breastpump : Medela Harmony

Parts

If you read the manual, Medela Harmony has so many parts that you'll feel afraid if you forgot to assemble a part after sterilising it!

As illustrated in the manual

However, fret not! If you buy the 'box' version of this pump (opposed to the sealed version), the pump will be assembled for you! That’s how you will learn which part goes where and more importantly, you will learn that assembling this pump is as easy as counting one two three!

Looking at the picture above, part B and B1 does not need to be cleaned too often so you can let it attached on part A (the handle) until you notice they are soiled. C is the Personal Fit shield (mine is 24 mm) and they need to be attached on D, the body pump. Putting it on and taking it off is very easy.

The tricky part was the valve (F) and the white-and-fragile membrane (E). Easy to assemble, but taking it off need patience and gentle hands.

I think the bottle need no explanation since they are self-explanatory. However, I am happy to say that I can use my Jingle Jungle bottle too instead of using Medela’s own bottle which came in 2 alongside the pump.

Overall, the many parts are not giving me problems so I am happy.

Functionality

Like any other Medela pump, this came with 2 phase expression which I can see and feel why mothers went ga-ga about it. Let down begins as soon as 30 seconds (for me) after pressing A1 repeatedly and afterwards pump as usual and you can see the milk flowing from your breast in quite a volume. It’s kind of exciting for me since it’s been a while since I saw that kind of volume after my other pump’s suction decreased suddenly after a month of heavy usage. It’s the first time ever too I had pumped until my breasts were almost completely empty. Score 100 for that matter.

However, it does hurt a bit when using it for the first time, and the ‘pain’ literally gone after my breast adjusted to the suction created by the pump.I know people were saying it doesn’t hurt at all but come on! Even if you are breastfeeding your baby for the first time it’s going to hurt, even though your baby is latching correctly because you wasn’t used to it. Few more sessions and all you can feel is the sensation of baby sucking on you, and it is almost the same like the pump. Your body will adjust accordingly so now when I’m using it, I felt, well, sensation but not pain.

The pump produced mild sound while in use but the good thing is, only you will hear it, but not others around you. I pumped at a surau once while outstation and nobody realised I am pumping until I was about to store my expressed milk into the cooler bag. It’s discreet enough for me and I am happy. *grins*

However, due to its nature as a manual pump, it is a bit tiring for a 20 minute per breast pumping session. But in the end of the session, you won’t really feel it anymore looking at the amount of milk you were able to express. You will be prompted to say, Alhamdulillah…

In short, the pump served its purpose while doing it discreetly as needed, easy to assemble and cleaned as well as easy to use. If you are looking for a pump for occasional use, this pump is right for you.

Hearts: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡ ♡

No comments:

Do jot down your opinion! ^^

Feel free to use any information or images you found in this blog but do credit properly! Thank you. Powered by Blogger.