Expressing breastmilk – the Innosense Electric Breastpump

Last week I attended an antenatal class.

Not because I’m imminently to give birth (just in case any of my family are reading this with alarmed/bemused expressions!) but as part of my training as a breastfeeding counsellor.

Sitting and watching six pairs of first time parents with both a mix of fear and excitement in their eyes, and listening to their questions (thinking ‘how do they not KNOW that?) I suddenly recalled a time when I was in that very same position – with no real idea how different my life would be in less than a few short weeks. Things that just come naturally now, that it feels like I must have known forever, were things that then I didn’t really have the first clue about.

The idea of breastfeeding in particular seemed very strange to me. I just couldn’t get my head around the idea that I would make milk! I questioned the antenatal teacher, had the mechanics of it all explained, looked at the pictures, watched a DVD – but still it seemed extremely unreal. So I decided that I’d give the hand pump I’d bought in readiness a little go antenatally and see what happened…

A few minutes later I was left feeling even more bemused by the whole milk making idea as one of my poor breasts throbbed as if it had been squashed repeatedly in some kind of torture device.

As it turns out, that particular pump may well have been intended for that purpose – because since then I’ve tried out a whole variety of breastpumps with varying degrees of success and realised that in particular, the first one I tried was not a good fit for me at all! Electric or manual, some work better than others and while some brands and models are very popular and well known, other less known brands I’ve found to be equally good or even better.

And now there’s a new pump in town – the Mothercare Innosense Electric Breastpump. At £89.99 (but currently on offer at 59.99!) it’s priced similarly to most other single electric pumps, but it’s designed a little bit differently. So I thought I’d see how it actually all works in practice.

The pump fits Mothercare’s new range of Innosense bottles, so it has a slightly wider neck attachment than many other breastpumps on the market. It comes with one bottle, and it can also be used with breastmilk storage bags – something that I’ve found very handy previously (there are still several hanging around in my freezer…) and means that you’re not committed to buying lots and lots of bottles of a particular size.

The pumping mechanism itself attaches to the main body of the pump – not a piece of plastic tubing in sight! It’s designed to be held comfortably with one hand, and the suction selection slider and on/off switch are in easy reach for thumb control, meaning you don’t need to have one hand free to work the controls whilst the other holds the breast shell in place. Great if you want to express whilst feeding your baby (with the Wee Man that doing exactly that was the easiest way to get a decent quantity of milk expressed). Even better, the angle of the pumping unit can be adjusted so that its facing left or right, depending on which side you are expressing from, to help make sure that the pump isn’t getting in the way of your baby.

The all-in-one aspect of this does mean that the pump is quite heavy – you won’t be able to walk around with it attached hands free like you can with some pumps – and it does also mean that there’s a bit more vibration transferred to the breast than those pumps with the pumping unit separated from the milk collection parts. When the motor is running it’s fairly noisy – not discreet by any means but then again not so loud that TV watching is out of the question either!

But it is incredibly easy to use, and as it contains a rechargeable battery unit it doesn’t need to be plugged in either – a big bonus if you need to take it out and about. It’s very easy to clean, and comes apart and reassembles easily. The controls are extremely quick to master, and I can see this being a good pump if you want to express moderately frequently – say once or twice a day. Despite the weight of the pumping unit, you can put it down in its stand and it won’t fall over, too – a definite bonus as many’s the time I’ve ended up spilling milk out of the bottle with other pumps due to my clumsiness! In fact the whole thing feels very sturdy and well made.

And, when the pumping is done, it all packs away in its little storage bag – which would fit easily into most reasonably sized handbags and doesn’t look like it’s got a breastpump in it either.

So if you’re an on the go mum who wants an efficiently transportable pump, a mum who likes pumping-while-feeding, or just an occasional expresser who wants an easy to use and store pump, this might be the one for you.

I was not paid to write this review however I was given a breastpump to fiddle around with and try and break (I didn’t, it’s still intact and working, hurrah!)