This is a review for pumping moms trying to decide between the Medela Pump In Style and a hospital-grade pump (in this case, the Medela Lactina Select). When I was trying to decide whether to switch from my PIS to a hospital-grade pump, I couldn’t find a good, detailed comparison online – so, for moms in a similar predicament, I hope this helps!

THE BOTTOM LINE
The hospital-grade pump is an absolute must for moms who are exclusively pumping. Pumping 7+ times a day is a killer with the Pump In Style. I found the pump to be harsh on my nipples and I developed sore and cracked nipples despite the religious application of Lansinoh after each pumping. The Lactina Select is much easier on the nipples (no more sore and cracked nipples, though I still applied Lansinoh as a precaution) and will therefore enable you to pump more frequently and build up your milk supply. You’ll also be more likely to continue pumping for many more weeks or months than you would otherwise.

For the mom who pumps just a few times a day, say while at work, the PIS is likely to be a fine option. It’s a little more portable than the LS, it’s less expensive, and if you’re pumping just a few times a day, you may not get the same pain and discomfort as more frequent pumping would produce.

HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON
Here’s how each pump compares on four dimensions: cost, portability, noise, and, for me the all-important, milk extraction

Cost: advantage goes to PIS
The PIS can be bought for $200 (I bought mine online for $208.90 from Little Folks). The LS costs about $800 to purchase, but most moms will end up renting this pump which runs $50 a month plus a one-time purchase of an accessories kit for $50.

Be sure to shop around for rental prices. The hospital offered the LS for $55 a month, while my LC offered them for $50 a month, and you may be able to find an even lower rental price. You’ll also need to buy the accessories kit ($59.50 at the hospital, $49 through independent LC) in order to use the pump. This consists of two breastshields and breastshield connectors, two valves and membranes (plus extra two membranes), piston, tubing, milk collection containers and lids, and two container stands. Be sure to order this at the hospital during your stay and ask for it to be added to your hospital bill – this way your insurance company is likely to pick up the tab.

If you buy the PIS, you’ll get the accessories kit as part of the package. However, you may still want to request another accessories kit at the hospital so you have an extra set for free.

Portability: slight advantage to PIS
I’m lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom, so daily portability doesn’t matter much to me. But I can see that the PIS would be a little more convenient to tote than the LS. The PIS comes built into a black professional-looking tote bag with handy compartments for pumping accessories and a cooler compartment for milk containers, and it comes with a battery pack too, in case there’s no electrical outlet nearby when you have to pump. You can also order a lighter adapter (about $18) for use in a car.

However, the LS is pretty easy to carry around too. When you first get it, it comes in a hard-sided very bulky carrier which you’ll never use again, except to return the pump when your milk-producing days are over. When I made day-trips or weekend-trips, I’d put the LS and its pumping accessories in a black tote bag (ironically, I used the diaper bag provided by Enfamil at the hospital), and bring along a separate small cooler bag for the milk. Like the PIS, the LS can be used with a battery pack and a lighter adapter.

Weightwise, the two pumps are pretty comparable – the LS weighs only 4½ pounds and the PIS weighs about the same. Sizewise, the LS measures 10” wide by 7.5” tall by 6” deep. The PIS is contained in its tote bag which measures 14” wide by 10” tall by 6” deep, though this includes extra space into which you’d store your accessories and milk containers.

Noise: slight advantage to PIS
Both pumps make a soft whooshing noise with each pump – the LS’s whoosh is slightly louder than the PIS’s but not really significantly so. If the room is quiet, then people in the same room (or the next stall) will hear the gentle whooshing (sort of a whisper-level sound), but noone will hear it outside the room.

Milk extraction: advantage goes to LS
At a single pumping, I could get pretty much the same amount of milk from the LS as from the PIS. The big difference though is that over time, I got more milk from the LS. If you’re trying to build up your milk supply, you’ll really want the hospital-grade pump. As your LC will tell you, you need to pump eight or more times a day to build up your milk supply, and if you’re using the PIS, you’ll be hard-pressed to get that eighth pumping in, because your nipples will recoil at the very thought. With the LS, I no longer dreaded pumpings, there was no more of the excruciating pain in the first ten seconds of pumping, and no more sore and cracked nipples! This, for me, was hands-down the biggest advantage of the LS. I got that eighth pumping in and within a few weeks increased my supply from 20 ounces to my goal of 32 ounces a day. I couldn’t have done it without the LS, which is why I strongly recommend this pump over the PIS for exclusive pumping moms.

BACKGROUND
I had a lot of time on my hands while pregnant and did lots of research on baby paraphernalia. When it came to breast pumps, I read all the terrific reviews on the PIS and heard great things about it from friends who’d pumped while working, so I bought one online a few weeks before my baby was born. I figured it’d be good to have one on hand right away in case I needed it to relieve the initial engorgement when nursing and also because I knew that even if I were successfully nursing, I’d want to pump every once in a while when the baby got to four weeks of age, so that my husband could help feed the baby.

In the first couple of weeks, nursing seemed to go well. The LCs at the hospital were great and my baby seemed to latch on fine. But at his 2-week doctor visit, we found that he gained only two ounces in the past week (where he needed to gain 4-6 ounces), and despite another couple of weeks working with a lactation consultant, my baby’s intake at the breast was never great. So I switched to pumping breastmilk and bottle-feeding it to my baby, and I continued doing this until he was four months old.

For the first five weeks, I used my PIS, pumping seven times a day. I knew I had to get an eighth pumping in, but just couldn’t bring myself to do it, dreading the pain at the beginning of each pumping, and not wanting my nipples to be any more sore and cracked than they already were. I read from the Medela literature that the PIS wasn’t recommended for moms building up their milk supply or for exclusive pumpers, but I didn’t know why. I figured all electric pumps would be the same, so I didn’t see how things would be different with a hospital-grade pump and I was reluctant to shell out $50 a month when I already had a pump.

However, one day, desperate to try anything to relieve the soreness of my nipples, I decided to give it a shot. I called my LC to rent a pump for a week. I started with the Medela Symphony simply because it was their latest model, so I assumed it would be the best of the bunch. It was so, so much easier on my nipples. No more pain at the initial pumping, and no more sore nipples by the end of the day. But – and this was a big but for me – I wasn’t pumping out as much milk as with the PIS. The Symphony’s pumping speed can’t be adjusted. The suction power is adjustable, but the pumping speed is predetermined. There’s a quick and soft pumping for the first two minutes to stimulate letdown, then it switches to a longer draw or pumping to simulate a baby’s deep suck. However, my body was used to a quicker pumping – I typically had the PIS dial cranked to 6. So the Symphony simply wasn’t extracting as much milk from me. My body probably would have adjusted over the course of several days, but for someone desperately trying to build up their milk supply, every precious ounce counts, so losing an ounce or two at each pumping was terrible! I called my LC early the next morning, and she suggested the Lactina Select because it has an adjustable speed dial. So I switched out pumps, and have never looked back! By the way, for those considering the Symphony, a couple of other notes. It’s a bit more expensive: $65 a month to rent vs. $50 for the Lactina Select. The pump itself is very attractive and doesn’t look like a pump at all – if this is important to you. Unlike the Lactina Select, there are no visible moving parts, no piston unattractively mounted onto the pump.

What it’s like to pump
Initial set-up of the Lactina Select is easy. Just assemble the piston, following the illustrated instructions provided with the kit, and attach it to the pumping arm. This takes just a few minutes.

Each time you pump, you then push the breastshields into the connectors, push the valves into the connectors, and screw this into the milk container. You then insert the ends of the tubing to the connectors, hold the breastshields on your breasts and switch on the power to the pump. It may sound like a lot of steps, but you’ll see it takes just seconds to do all this. Then you pump away. Ten to fifteen minutes is all it takes to empty your breasts. Then I’d pour the milk into an Avent bottle and rinse out the Medela parts. Once a day, I’d wash all the parts (breastshields, valves, containers) in hot, soapy water or in the dishwasher (top rack only). You can also buy microwave steam bags to sterilize the parts.

The LS has an on-off button, a knob to regulate speed, and a suction control on the piston’s cylinder. (The PIS also has a knob to regulate speed, and a suction control dial)

Some pumping tips
I know this is supposed to be just a product review, but I thought I’d throw these tips in to help out any new pumping moms. If you’re like me, you’re probably scouring the net to find anything that’ll help make things easier, and help increase your supply!
Hands-free pumping. Medela sells a hands-free kit which I bought but never used. I found that if I sat cross-legged while I pumped, I could just rest the bottles on my thighs. This works best if the bottles are standing on bare skin (say, if you’re wearing shorts) – easy for me, as I pumped at home. For those pumping at work, try putting the bottle on a piece of rubber or silicone, then rest on your thighs. The Avent sealing disc works well for this – the rubber provides a good grip for the bottle so it won’t slide around. Freeing up my hands allowed me to try out breast compression techniques which I found really worked for getting out every last ounce of milk.
Suction Higher suction doesn’t necessarily mean more milk gets extracted. I found that if I increased the suction then I actually got less milk – something my LC told me also happened with her other patients. So don’t crank that thing up to “max”! I found that turning the suction to just a little higher than “min” was best for me.
Health insurance. Be sure to check with your health insurer to see what they’ll cover. I found that mine covered 65% of my LC’s fees and 85% of the babyscale rental (to measure baby’s intake when nursing). I wish I’d know about the coverage earlier, as I’d have signed up for more in-home consultations from my LC which were pretty expensive, and I might have gotten the nursing to work for me. The LCs at my hospital provided their services for free and I think if I went to see them at the hospital afterwards, it would be free too, but I wanted in-home consultations which is why I went to an independent LC. Unfortunately, the cost of pump rentals wasn’t covered though.
Keep your chin up! It's not easy to pump 8+ times a day plus bottle-feed and take care of a new baby. It's time-consuming and can be really stressful, and you may feel discouraged about it. But you can do it! Remember that you're doing a great thing for your baby. My little boy didn't get sick at all while he was getting breastmilk -- it was only when he got weaned onto formula that he caught his first cold. So I'm glad I stuck it out, and you will be too. To make the pumping less monotonous, I found that pumping in front of the TV helped. And it may also help to know that once you hit your goal output, you can get by with pumping only 5-6 times a day.

Recommended: Yes