Should I buy a used breast pump?

code-a-holic

From experience i wouldnt recomend expresing as well as breast feding for the first few weks. 3-5 days in to breast feeding you may become engored (boobs full)- almost certainly! This is with feding alone. If you exores in between you are telling your boobs to produce more and you may find you will become very soor very quickly. Wait until breastfeding is well established and you feel it has settled in to a routine. Then is a good time to get others involved.
I breastfed my 3 for the first 3-4 weeks. My supply then 'dissaperared'. If i had spent that amount of money on a piece of equipment i would have gone mad!
Make sure you have a need for it before parting with the cash!
Good luck!

ALI1973

I personally wouldnt buy a 2nd hand breast pump (or baby bottles either) Just dont like the thought really, dont know about the health side, I know that hospitals and NCT do hire out units, so bit confusing (unless Hospital ones etc are made of different materials - anyone????)

I bought a cheap battery one from Toys r us and its great (after youve read the instructions lol). As the others have said £200 is an awful lot of money which you may not use (expressing milk doesnt feel the same as feeding baby, and some people dont like it).

Ultimately, If you can afford to lose £200 then go for it, otherwise, enjoy your baby for a while and then make a choice.

Best wishes on your forthcoming arrival (mines not due for another 6 weeks!)

Love Ali

Puja_2

Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions and advice.

I do need a pump quite soon as I will be needing to leave the baby for a few days due to an examiners training course I have to attend in Manchester (I am a teacher). As I will be returning to work eventually I know I will need to use the pump then. Furthermore, I will be trying to follow Gina Ford’s methods which recommend expressing milk once a day right from the start.

After a bit of research I have found I can obtain the Medela Pump in Style from the US for about $190 and have it delivered to my cousin who is happy to post it to me. This is a huge difference in price as a new Medela Pump in Style retails for £200 in the UK! I have had bad experiences with cheaper breast pumps in the past, and this particular brand and model seems to be the best available.

The hospital grade ones are different and are made for multiple users where as these ones are meant for single users only. The second hand ones available on eBay sell for nearly £80 anyway, so if I order from the states then I won’t be paying over the odds for a brand new pump that I can feel totally comfortable with.

I have emailed a few companies who sell the pumps in the US, and am just waiting for information regarding the UK adapter that I would need.

On a completely different note, knowing the amount of wisdom and knowledge you guys all have, I have been told today that the baby is lying in a breech position. They are going to try and turn it if they can, but otherwise recommend I have a c-section. I am devastated by this news as was expecting a completely natural birth. I have read up on it and it appears there are lots of different things I should be doing to help the baby turn, from crawling on all fours (!) to headstands (!!). Does anyone know if any of these methods or others actually work??!!

Thanks again for all your support.

tee_pee_2

why not try the ones in the hospital first, plus there will be adverts up and hiring is a good way to go, (medula) is the make. I agree with Jay Jay you may not be able to breast feed and £200 is a lot of money.

After i left hospital I bought a hand held pump and I lent it to my friend when she had her son, and there was no problem with infection.

Js_Other_Half

I know a friend of mine had acupuncture (suggested by her midwife) to successfully turn her breech baby. It might be worth your while chatting to your midwife?

tee_pee_2

I has a section and although I wasn't what I expected it wasn't the end of the world, so try to not panic if you end up with a section. try to think of it as it doesn't matter as long as baby is happy/safe, and I have to say my scar is very small.

Jay-Jay_4

If the ECV fails then try looking at accupuncture, accupressure and moxibustion as proccedures to turn your baby.

Have the hospital told you why you are recommended to have a section? This doesn't sound like your first baby as you say that you have used a breastpump before, if so and you had a problem free delivery then a vaginal birth shouldn't be off the cards.

The problem is that women are told the risks of a breech vaginal birth and are scared into having sections, thus there are fewer midwives who have the experience to deliver breech babies. The problem is escalating. You may have been offered a section due to a lack of experience, if so you can demand that the hospital finds you a midwife who is confident in her abilities to help you to deliver a breech baby vaginally.

funky-footprints

my son turned on his own at 38 weeks .... i was realy suprised as at 9lb born i didnt feel it !!! anyways i spent many nights on all 4's !! i too apparantly was breach and was turned twice, the first time i flipped back. dont panic... am sure everything will go smoothly!!

debtfree_WANNABE_6

Breast is definately best. When i was pregant i used an Avent Hand pump and also hand expressed - like you said they can share in feeding then - especially at night. I returned to work when my baby was seven months and thats when i appreciated that he could take a bottle as well as the breast. For breast pads try machine washable not the disposable's as they can seem a little thin.

Puja_2

Jay-Jay,

Thanks for your suggestions, I have read about those things on the net so will look into them if the ECV doesnt work out. I don't really know why the hospital are suggesting a section straight away, I will talk to them again. This is not my first baby, my older two were born normally with no problems.

Funky footprints,

I am 38 weeks today, so theres still hope then! I hope everything does turn out right...but I guess as long as the baby is healthy!!

I am trying not to panic but can't help it as I just assumed that everything would be fine, the thought of an operation is scary!

Thanks again everyone!