A UK Pregnancy, Parenting and Lifestyle Blog
When it comes to breastfeeding, one of the brands that springs to mind straight away is Medela. And my favourite thing about Medela is that they genuinely care about your breastfeeding journey. They’re not just out to sell their products, they also want to help make breastfeeding as easy as it can be for you. You can get in touch any time for help with your products or with questions about breastfeeding. I was lucky enough to be sent the Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump to review as part of being a ‘Medela Mum’ and will share all my thoughts on it with you lovely lot.
My breastfeeding journey with Little I ended before it began really – you can read about it here – and I had a huge struggle this time around as well, with Baby L – which I’ve talked about in detail here.
Basically when he was born he was incredibly sleepy, wouldn’t latch and had a teeny tiny mouth. All not great factors when it comes to breastfeeding. I stayed in hospital for five days to try and get feeding established, amongst other reasons, but nothing we tried helped and I ended up having to hand express, syringe and cup feed, and then ultimately use an electric pump. He also had to be topped up with formula but the midwives didn’t want my body to stop producing milk so I began to express every 3 hours for 15 minutes on each side. I always offered L to feed from me before expressing and giving him a bottle but we struggled on for 3-4 weeks expressing before he finally latched. It. Was. Exhausting.
I panicked when I realised I didn’t have an electric pump to go home to, but the lovely people at Medela sorted sending my Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump out really quickly. Thank you!!
Onto the review!
What is the Medela Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump?
The Medela Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump is an electric pump with a 2-phase expression function for expressing breast milk, that allows you to collect up to 18% more milk than single pumping. Short, stimulating patterns are followed by longer ones to ensure optimal milk flow for collection.
First impressions
What’s included in the box:
1x Swing maxi motor unit
2x Connector
2x Bottle 150ml
2x Bottle stand
2x PersonalFit breast shield
2x Multi-lid
1x Swing maxi tubing
1x Mains adapter
1x Calma solitaire
I was really impressed with the packaging. The box was eye catching and had plenty of relevant information about the Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump on it. All the separate parts of the pump were packaged up and protected well and it was pretty self explanatory when you opened them all up to put the pump together.
Assembly
The assembly of the Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump was incredibly easy. The instructions are easy to follow and you literally just put the parts together in under a couple minutes, plug the wires and tube in, and you are good to go.
The lowdown
Features:
Accessories
You can also buy:
How we got on
I can genuinely say, hand on my heart, that if it weren’t for my Medela Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump I probably wouldn’t be breastfeeding today. The fact that I had to exclusively express for 3-4 weeks was incredibly difficult and the Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump made it that bit easier by making a long and, often, hard process a bit quicker and more comfortable.
Having a double pumps means that more milk can be collected in a quicker time frame, which was a huge factor for me due to the fact I also have a 2.5 year old running around. I needed the process to be as efficient as possible so that I could get back to running around after the toddler as well as her little bro. The Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump allowed me to gain some time back.
You can buy different sized nipple shields to fit your own unique size, which is a great feature because we’re all different! I was really uncomfortable for about a week until I figured this out. So I popped on Amazon, bought a different size and have been totally fine ever since.
I’ve found the Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump pretty comfortable to use in terms of the settings. You can control how strong the suction is and suit it to your needs, and match it to your baby’s suck. I found that I was able to build up a tolerance to the stronger suction settings as time went on.
I bought an expression bustier bra to try and make life easier because I was expressing so much in the beginning. It’s a bandeau type bra that you can attach the pumps too and you can (kind of) move about and have your hands free. It let me get a lot of work done on my laptop etc whilst I was stuck sat down expressing.
The Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump can be plugged into the wall to get power, or it can can use batteries when you are out and about. I have been know to express whilst in the car!
You can also use it as a single pump, which is fab. There have been quite a few times when I’ve needed to use it as a single pump to just express from one side and it’s good that you have the option with the Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump.
Even if my breastfeeding journey had gotten off to a better start I would have still wanted to express and give L a bottle so he got used to it and I would have the option of being able to let someone else feed him when needs be. I also plan to move to combi feeding ahead of going back to work, and then fully bottle feeding when I am back at work, so being able to express and use the Calma bottles has been great.
(Incredibly tired new mum photo!)
Speaking of the Calma bottles, we’ve gotten on really well with them as well. I think they helped ‘train’ L to breastfeed ahead of him actually latching. Normal bottles would have been too easy an option for him and he wouldn’t have had to ‘work’ for the milk, so he might not have ever ended up latching properly so we’re very grateful to have had the Calma bottles.
Even though I am no longer exclusively expressing I still use my Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump quite a lot. I use it if I’m heading out and about and need to express some milk to leave L at home with my parents. It’s also great to use when i get a bit engorged overnight and L can’t latch on well. It’s good to express a little to soften everything up and allow him to latch easier. I like to have a stash of milk in the freezer
After 9-10 weeks of use, I’ve started to have a few suction issues with the pump. It seems to have lost a bit of it’s suction power, but it comes and goes. Sometimes it’s a bit dodgy, then other times it’s completely fine again. The team at Medela have been very helpful though and are always seem to be around to help with any issues.
Price and where to buy
The Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump has a RRP of £239.99 and you can find out more information here. It is a pretty steep price tag but, for me, it’s worth every penny for the fact it’s let me establish my milk supply and ultimately, breastfeed. The performance of the pump makes it worth the money as well. If you had a pump that didn’t express your milk very well, it would be really frustrating and hard work. You also have the option to rent it if that suits you better.
Would we recommend?
100% yes!!! It’s a great way to express milk quickly and efficiently and it will massively improve your breastfeeding journey if you find yourself needing to express.
Have you owned any Medela or other brand breast pumps? How did you get on?
*I was sent the Medela Swing Maxi Double Electric Pump free of charge in return for a honest review.
