Thursday, November 13, 2014

Review: Lactamed

On October 9, I welcomed my daughter into the world. Being a second time mom, I was a bit more prepared for breastfeeding my child this time, including being prepared to pump to keep a backup supply. 



Having a pumped backup supply was especially important this time, as I was planning a surgery a month after delivery, where I would have to pump and dump for 24 hours. That is a lot of pumping, especially as I was planning to exclusively breastfeed. 

However, holding the pump funnels gets old. Fast. Finding a pump bra in my size for a decent price, though, is not the easiest thing. This is where Lactamed comes in.

Lactamed offers a one size fits most hands free pumping bra kit, Simplicity. The Simplicity kit allows you to use the Hands On Pumping Technique. This is a massage technique that helps to empty the breast more. Stanford University did a study on this technique and found that in new mothers of preemie babies who used it had up to a 40% increase in milk supply.



In my package,I received 3 bra kits, 1 tan and 2 black, as well as a couple of lovely cards and some literature about the company, the massage technique, and the bra kit itself. 


At first, I was dubious of the one size claim, but once I got my hands on one, I completely believe it. It has an elastic waistband that you adjust by clip and a neckband that is also adjustable. 

I had two different styles of neckband, one that also had clips to adjust size, and another that had a slider. Both make it extremely easy to fit Simplicity to your exact sizing. There are also sliders to hold the pump funnels in place.

Having multiple kits makes it easy to always have one around. I decided to keep one in my pump bag, one in my diaper bag, and one in my car, so I always have one quickly at hand when pumping. 

Using the Simplicity bra kit truly makes pumping hands free, so I can use the Hands On Pumping Technique or otherwise use my hands without worry. 

While you can use Simplicity with any nursing bra, I actually found it most convenient for when I don't have a bra on at all or while wearing a tank top with a built in bra (I usually only pump at home).

The Hands-On Pumping Technique is highly recommended in the literature given, and I thought that I would give it a shot, as I had supply issues with my firstborn. 


While I will say that I can definitely tell the difference when I do the massage and when I don't, I don't know if I would say it boosted my supply. I would, however, like to point out that that claim was made for mothers of premature babies, and I delivered my daughter full term, only a day before her estimated due date. 

That said, I can attest to the massage cutting my pumping time in half. When I don't use it, it takes roughly 20 minutes to pump to “empty”, while it only takes about 10 if I do the massage. Halving the time is extremely helpful to me as a mother of more than one.

If you are interested in purchasing the Simplicity bra kit for yourself (which I highly recommend!) you can head over to Lactamed's website, where they offer one for $12.99, a two pack for $20.95, and carryingcases for $4.99. 

 The bra kits come in a variety of colors that you can choose from, and the carrying cases come in 4 different patterns, though which one you get is up to the company. Lactamed also offers a 100% money back guarantee if you aren't satisfied. 

On their support page they offer the instructions in a whopping 28 different languages! Also on the support page are videos on use and assembly.

All in all, I can definitely see the Simplicity pumping bra kit from Lactamed being a staple for as long as I pump, and I highly recommend any breastfeeding mother who uses an electric pump to get at least one of them!  

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3 comments:

  1. I have never seen anything like this before. Very interesting. Thanks for the review! :)

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  2. I had to use a pump when my son was born, latching on issues, and it was not hand's free and there was only one. I think i would have stuck with it longer if I had two and hands free! Great review, thanks for sharing this info!

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  3. Great info! They've really come a long way with this new hands free pump. Must say that I'm a little happy those days are over for me. Sure having fun enjoying my grands though! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs
    Jann

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