Ameda or Medela

[@llli*norahs81]

My insurance company will cover a breast pump from the supplier Edgepark. According to their website they offer:

Ameda Purely Yours Electric Breast Pump(EW)17070PMW
Medela Advanced Personal Double Breast Pump (ML)57018W
Playtex Double Electric Breast Pump (TX) PLA06578EA

From the research I have been able to find comparing the Ameda and the Medela most people like the Medela better because it is easier to get replacement parts but find that the Ameda is easier to clean up.

Has anyone had any experience with the supplier Edgepark or either of these pumps?

I will be returning to work after 8 weeks and will have 2 - 15 min breaks plus a lunch hour. The 15 min breaks are set times and I have to be back at my desk in 15 mins, so I want a pump that I can unpack, pump, and clean up as quick as possible.

Thank you

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

I've used the Medela Pump in Style Advanced (I assume that's what you mean by the Medela Advanced?) and have been very satisfied with it. My understanding is that the Ameda Purely Yours is not as good of a pump - ie, more lightweight, tends to break down with the type of daily pumping use that's required if you're pumping at work. I have not personally used it though. Don't know anything about that Playtex pump.

Ways to stretch your 15 min break (if there is really no possibility of extending that break - 15 minutes is short!) - you want to spend absolutely as little time setting up and cleaning as possible, so that you spend the time pumping. Ways to do this: do not clean all the pump parts each time! You can put them in a ziploc bag and into the fridge, or even just on your desk, between sessions. In your case, since you have more time at lunch, you could take everything back to your desk after the morning session, with your milk in a cooler with an ice pack, and then put the milk in the fridge at lunch time if you are worried about it staying cool enough with the ice packs all day. That way you don't spend time going back to the fridge during your morning break. By the time of your afternoon break, you have a much shorter time til you go home, so the milk is fine even at room temp for a few hours, until you collect your milk and (cold again) ice packs from the fridge for the commute home. Or, some mothers have multiple sets of parts that they use. So for example, in the morning you screw the flanges and adaptors onto the bottles so you don't spend time doing that during your break.

[@llli*mommal]

I personally found the Ameda Purely Yours to be underpowered. Good for a mom who doesn't need to rely on the pump all that heavily- maybe someone working part-time, or who responds really well to pumping.

[@llli*norahs81]

Thank you for your insight. I was leaning towards the Medela and I think you just made up my mind. I just hope they have them in stock

[@llli*agh717]

I started out with the Ameda Purely Yours. 2-3 months after returning to work it died on me at the begining of my pumping session. Ruined the rest of my day because I had to leave work and borrow the motor part from the local hospital's lactation department. 4-5 months later the replacement motor they sent me also died on my at work. Again I had to leave work to drive to my daughter's daycare to nurse. This is no where locally for me to purchase/rent Medela pumps and I could not afford to take off more time from work while I waited for them to send me yet another replacement (not that I wanted another at this point), so I purchased a Medela Pump in Style Advanced locally. I agree that the Ameda doesn't seem to be able to handle the pumping habits of a full-time working mother. I just wish htat I would have know that from the start. Ameda was good about reimbursing me for the purchase price of the pump and car adapter (that I had just purchased and not used). Oh, as I was packing it up to return it I tested it just for humor and that darn thing was working. At this point I didn't trust it anymore and had already spent $300 on my Medela PISA that I could not return.

[@llli*filmmommy]

That's funny -- I have an Ameda Purely Yours and provided I kept changing the membranes/valves regularly I found I was getting nearly as good an output as the hospital grade pump I was renting! I've been using it for a long time now, so it's just starting to seem a little less powerful. That being said, I have used a friend's on occasion and hers seems to have a problem with the motor, and she didn't use hers very long. I also bought a used Pump In Style Advanced from a friend (she didn't use it long and it was only for occasional use at home after returning the hospital grade pump) and it seems to be pretty good, as well.