What Breast Pump Should I Buy?

Choosing a breast pump sounds simple until you actually start looking. Wearable pumps. Electric pumps. Hospital-grade pumps. Manual pumps. One mum says a pump changed her life. Another says the exact same pump destroyed her nipples, affected her supply and was an expensive disaster.

So which breast pump should you buy?

The best breast pump isn't necessarily the one with the best reviews. It's the one that best matches what you need it to do.

And that's where I think most breast pump shopping goes wrong.

The problem with breast pump reviews

Most breast pump reviews tell you whether somebody liked their pump. What they rarely tell you is whether that pump would suit you.

Every review comes from a different mum, with different breasts, different feeding goals, different circumstances and a completely different reason for pumping. The review isn't necessarily wrong. It's simply describing somebody else's experience.

So before asking “Which breast pump is best?”, I want to ask a different question: “What do you actually need your breast pump to do?”

Why are you buying a breast pump?

This sounds ridiculously obvious, but it changes everything.

Are you buying one “just in case” before your baby arrives? Do you expect to express occasionally so somebody else can give a bottle? Are you planning to return to work? Do you want the freedom of a wearable? Are you expecting pumping to be a significant part of how you feed your baby?

Those aren't the same job.

And the pump that's brilliant for one of them may not be the pump I'd choose for another.

This is also why I don't necessarily think every pregnant mum needs to rush out and buy the fanciest breast pump before her baby has even arrived. Sometimes knowing what you might need, why you might need it and what your options are is more useful than owning all the equipment in advance.

Popular doesn't necessarily mean suitable

A breast pump can have thousands of five-star reviews and still be completely wrong for your circumstances.

Popularity tells you what lots of other people bought and liked. It doesn't tell you whether the pump fits your feeding plans, lifestyle or expectations.

And that's where parents can become frustrated. You buy the pump everyone told you was THE pump, only to discover that it doesn't really do what you needed it to do.

That's not necessarily a bad pump.

It may simply be a mismatch.

This is where MumBo™ comes in

MumBo™ means the Mum and Baby Combination. It's a framework I created within the Miskin Method® to help us understand the individual mum and baby rather than treating breastfeeding as one-size-fits-all.

And I think the same principle should apply to the things we buy for feeding.

Your body, your baby, your feeding plans and what you're actually trying to achieve matter far more to me than what's currently trending on Instagram.

Which is why, when I built an AI specifically to help mums make feeding-product decisions, I didn't want her starting with rankings.

I wanted her starting with you.

Meet Mabel

Mabel is the product-matching AI within LATCHED AI.

Most breast pump advice starts with: “Which pump is best?”

Mabel starts somewhere else: “What are you actually trying to achieve?”

She uses my MumBo™ thinking to help you work out what matters in your particular situation before you start comparing products. Because sometimes the answer isn't which breast pump to buy.

Sometimes it's whether you actually need to buy one yet.

Mabel also works alongside mums during PLANNER in a Week, my seven-day pregnancy feeding-planning work-along. One of the things we do there is work out what you genuinely need for the feeding experience you're hoping to create — rather than buying everything the internet has convinced you you're going to need.

Because preparation shouldn't mean more stuff.

It should mean better decisions.

I’m Geraldine Miskin, breastfeeding specialist, originator of MumBo™ and the 4 Pillars of Breastfeeding Mastery™, and creator of the Miskin Method® and LATCHED AI.

If you want to understand why your individual mum-and-baby combination matters before making feeding decisions, read What Is MumBo™? The Mum and Baby Combination Behind Breastfeeding.

About LATCHED AI: LATCHED AI is a personalised breastfeeding education and support platform created by Geraldine Miskin. Built on the Miskin Method®, MumBo™ and the 4 Pillars of Breastfeeding Mastery™, it combines nearly 30 years of professional breastfeeding experience with personalised AI support to help families better understand their own breastfeeding.