Medela Pump In Style Original Breast Pump Review

Didn’t work for me

My nipples became very sore after pumping with the Medela Pump in Style and my supply started to diminish. Each time I had to pump I became more frustrated, and I eventually had to supplement my daughter’s feedings with formula. I was not satisfied with my PIS. For me this pump definitely wasn’t worth the price.

Bottom line: Don’t bother getting this pump. For moms who have to pump regularly, go rent a hospital-grade pump. The cost comes out to be the same, and you get a better quality pump that you don’t have to be stuck with forever.

I bought this item after trying out a hospital-grade electric pump (a Medela Classic on rental), thinking that this was a comparable substitute. IT IS NOT. While the bag and all the accessories that come with it are handy, the pump itself — the item you’re supposedly paying $250+ for — was not very powerful. It took forever to stimulate let-down, and even then it couldn’t get all my milk out, let alone draw out hindmilk. I’ve had better results with a manual pump.

Even at maximum power, it took twice as long to pump the same amount of milk that I was able to express in less than 5 minutes with the rental pump. I am pumping at work, and the less time it takes to express milk, the better. Trying to get the pump to work well only added to the stress that I was already feeling, and that made it even harder for let down.

Plus, the pump was noisy. I expected some noise, like air in a piston, but this sounded like a squeaky hinge on a vault door. Sometimes it sounded like a voice — creepy.

It’s frustrating that I spent so much money on something that was so disappointing, and I can’t return it.

I bought this pump after a hospital-grade electric pump the Medela Classic. I thought that since it was from Medela as well that it would provide comparable performance, but it does not. The pump itself was not nearly as powerful as I had expected it to be especially after paying more than $250 for it. I did however like the tote bag and other accessories that came with it.

It would take forever to stimulate a let-down and then I still had trouble emptying my breasts with this pump. Even when I cranked it up all the way it would still take me twice as long to pump as I did with the rental.

I also found this pump to be quite noisy. Keep in mind that I had already used the rental so I did expect to hear some noise, but this thing made more noise and it always sounded squeaky like it was going to die out or something.

It’s frustrating that I spent so much money on a pump that was so disappointing, and I can’t even return it.

This pump is okay for an electric double pump, but I wouldn’t rate it as the best or anything. The breast flanges are designed in a way that requires you hunch over while pumping. If you don’t then your milk may leak out of the shield or into the tubing. So you end up getting a sore back or you lose milk (and have a lot of extra cleaning to do).

In addition to hunching over, I always have to play around with the speed and suction settings in order to letdown, which makes it nearly impossible for me to use this pump a double. In my opinion, this pump is not worth the hefty price tag that comes with it.