breast pump rental

[Anonymous]

I will be delivering at Fair Oaks and am trying to decide between renting a pump and purchasing my own... since it's several hundred dollars to buy my own, I'm wondering if it would make more sense to just rent. Anyone have any advice? I'm interested in hearing from some of you that rented from Inova...

[Anonymous]

Are you going to be going back to work (outside your home) and need to pump there? If so, you will definitely need to buy your own pump. The hospital grade pumps are heavy and not easy to transport. I highly recommend the Freestyle. It is expensive, but it was worth every penny.

You can also see if you can find a used one. The Freestyle is a completely closed system -- the milk does not enter the machine/motor portion of the pump at all. You can use your own accessories and be perfectly fine. GL!

[Anonymous]

I did both. With my first kid, I purchased Ameda Purely Yours. I bought extra parts off eBay and kept one set at work, one at home and just transported the pump back and forth. With my second and third, I rented a pump from Inova Alexandria. It was an Ameda pump and the parts were interchangeable with my Purely Yours. I kept the hospital grade pump at the office because they really are better than the ones you buy - unless you're one of the lucky few who can produce like a Holstein and then it doesn't matter. The hospital grade pumps were so much more effecient than my personal pump and it was a lot easier to maintain my milk supply.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, it will depend on your situation. I bought a Freestlye bwcause I will be going back to work. However, turns out my DS cannot nurse effectively, and that caused my supply to take a huge hit early (body didn't recognize demand) so I needed to rent a hospital pump to get supply back up. I am not exclusively pumping so I will keep the hopital pump for the duration of my leave and then use my Freestyle when I go back to work.

[Anonymous]

Curious - how much do the hospital pumps cost to rent?

[Anonymous]

If you buy, you have to buy a Medela, preferably the Freestyle. The Ameda Purely Yours is a much lower-quality pump, making it harder to keep supply up. I found the Freestyle worked about as well as the Medela Symphony, though not nearly as quiet.

[Anonymous]

I had all intentions of BFing but wasn't sure I could or DC would be able to. To be on the safe side, I rented for the first month and when it was clear it was all working out, I bought the Medela Freestyle. A GREAT pump. Plan to use with #2, no need to rent this time.

[Anonymous]

How long do you plan on needing to pump? How much is the rental fee? I looked into this (although I delivered at a different hospital) and found that buying the pump was actually cheaper in the long run.
I second all of the PP's about the Freestyle. I love it. You can just throw it in a bag and go. If I had one of the others, I would officially be the bag lady of DC (computer/work bag, purse, breast pump bag).

[Anonymous]

Rental fees seem to be about $75 a month, regardless of where you rent from. I think Medela sets the price. I assume Ameda would be the same.

I have access to a hospital grade pump at work, but rarely use it. I use handpumps instead, as I get sore from the strength of the stronger pump. They probably wouldn't be ideal for everyone, but I love them!

[Anonymous]

medela symphony is about $80/mo depending where you get it

[Anonymous]

I think it would be worth it to hold off on buying and rent the first month and see how things are going. You probably are going to have to buy eventually if you are going back to work and want to continue w/ pumping. I had a pump, but ended up renting anyway b/c baby wouldln't latch and I needed a better pump to bring up the supply until we could work out the latch issues. I ended up deciding not to continue after I went back to work, but I didn't know how things were going to be until I was in the situation. You can always go out and buy a breast pump later and if you do your research now you won't have to really shop around much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:medela symphony is about $80/mo depending where you get it

I think I heard that Bethesda Breastfeeding Ctr rents the Symphony now for about $60 a month. They rent out of DaaRoo Pharmacy in Chevy Chase. Might be worth a call to ask.

I personally prefer the Symphony for work (I have an office so just leave it here) because it is SO MUCH QUIETER. I can pump while on conference calls, etc. without being self conscious of the whirring sounds that the PIS and Freestyle make.

[Anonymous]

Symphony (hospital pump) is a much better pump, so if you have any supply issues you will want to stick with that. It is also MUCH quieter so more conducive to pumping while on the phone, at work, etc. Only downside is that it's a bitch to carry compared with the personal pumps. So it really depends on your circumstances. If you're going to need to carry it back and forth to work, I would go with the personal pump, which still does a decent job. (I like the freestyle but I've heard the pump in style is good too.) If you can leave the pump in one place indefinitely and just use it there, the hospital pump is better.

[Anonymous]

I rented the Medela Lactina and it was about $40 per month or about $200 for a 6 month rental, if I recall.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Yes, I will be going back to work after 3 months. I did not BF with #1 so this will be all new to me and I'm not sure how it will work out. I am thinking maybe I'll rent for a month or two (I can easily just tell the LC at the hospital when I deliver, right? They're that readily available?) and then buy if it's still working out.

Does it matter what kind of bottles you use with different pumps? We have a huge supply of Born Free from #1 that I want to use again.

Also, I've heard a lot about Medela - what about Avent pumps? I found one at BRU that is about $250 - cheaper than the Medelas but seems to be okay... any advice on that?