Why I Love It: The Powerful Pump That Extended My Breastfeeding Journey

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Why did she get it?

No matter how detailed your birth plan, there are some things you just don’t know how to plan for. When Courtney Quinn’s baby, Cerulean, came two-and-a-half weeks before his due date, she didn’t even have her hospital bag packed, much less a breast pump. Then came her postpartum preeclampsia.  

“Two days after I gave birth, I had to go back to the hospital for another two days, and that's when I started pumping,” Quinn said.  

While she worked on getting familiar with pumping and establishing her supply, she supplemented with formula and hospital-supplied donor milk before turning to support from a lactation specialist. 

“I scheduled a private lesson with her, and I went in two days after I was out of the hospital the second time,” Quinn said. “She sat with me for an hour and was like, ‘no, you're using the wrong flange size, this is the one that works for you,’ or ‘try this or if he's falling asleep while you're feeding; touch him like this and so that he stays awake’ and that was really helpful. I feel like if I didn't have that, I wouldn't have known what I was doing.”

With help from her lactation specialist and a practice she calls “power pumping”—a method of pumping meant to simulate cluster feeding to help increase milk supply—she’s been able to exclusively breastfeed her now 9-month-old and stock a freezer full of milk she donates to her local mom group. 

It’s something she hopes to keep doing as a way of giving back to moms who go through their own birth and feeding complications. But to do that, she needed a pump upgrade that would work with her busy travel schedule; Quinn’s pumping routine includes pumping on the go to maintain supply while away from her baby, then donating her frozen milk. For her, that meant getting a pump that was light enough to bring on work trips without losing efficiency—so she turned to the Medela Pump In Style Pro.

Why does she love it?

Since Quinn started her pumping journey in the hospital, she was already familiar with hospital-grade pumps designed to jumpstart and maintain milk production. But with the Medela Pump In Style Pro, she was able to recreate that same powerful pumping experience at home; it uses a similar pumping pattern as the Medela Symphony, the #1 breast pump used in hospitals. 

Here’s what else made the Medela Pump In Style Pro the right pump pick for her continued feeding journey: 

• Comfy pumping: “The sucking pattern was a lot more comfortable, and I would say I think it's because of the flange,” she said. “It's more oval instead of a straight-up circle. Although I felt like it was still getting a lot out, it didn't feel like it was aggressive or uncomfortable, like I was being hardcore milked.”

• Increased supply: “When I was 16, I had a tumor the size of a lemon in one of my breasts, so now it doesn't produce as much milk,” she said. “On my other guy, I’ll get eight to ten ounces, but I'd only get like one ounce, sometimes two, on my ‘bad boob.’ Pumping with the Pump In Style Pro, I was able to get her up closer to the three and four range.”

• Compact size: “I was shocked when I opened the box because every other pump I've seen is twice the size,” she said. “Having a smaller-sized pump with hospital-grade suction is perfect for my busy travel schedule—I already carry enough stuff, and I've found I need to pull out my old pump through TSA otherwise it gets flagged. But the Pump In Style Pro fits nicely in my backpack with plenty of room for all the other things I need to carry. I’ve even been able to store it in my purse and bring it to a movie premiere or work events when I'm away from my baby for a long period of time."

With a goal of breastfeeding until her son is two years old (per the World Health Organization’s recommendation), the Pump In Style Pro checked all her boxes.

“The ability to donate [my milk] and have it be a more comfortable experience, and also know that it's working my ‘bad boob’ a little bit more, has made me more open to pumping every day again.” 

Medela Pump In Style Pro Breast Pump

$149.99

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Who would she recommend it to?

“I’d recommend the Pump In Style Pro to moms who want the best for their pumping journey because it got the job done and helped improve my low-performing breast with hospital efficiency at home.”

She also recommends it for families who start their pumping journey in-hospital to help reduce the stress of the hospital-to-home transition, which can sometimes impact milk supply.

“I found that when I’m more stressed and anxious, it sometimes affects my milk and just kind of makes everything worse,” she said. “I know that it's not really helpful when you're in it, but if you could just kind of take it one day at a time, one pump at a time, and one feed at a time, you'll be able to get through it.”

Want to know more about the Medela Pump In Style Pro? Take a look at Courtney’s review here. 

This article is sponsored by Medela. Babylist’s free site, apps and emails are made possible by our sponsors. We limit our sponsored content to relevant partners that offer products and services we believe in and use ourselves.