Pure and Simple - The Purely Yours Breast Pump

Breast pump manufacturers believe their products to be the best – and they should, otherwise their advertising claims are nothing but inflated half-truths told for the sole purpose of making money. Quality pump makers are of course interested in profit, but unlike their "shady" counterparts, quality pump makers also want their products to enhance the lives of breastfeeding mothers and babies.

On my crusade for quality pumps, I have been fortunate to come across more than one quality pump maker. The latest addition to that list is Ameda. For a one-month period in February 2003, I tested the Ameda Purely Yours breast pump (with backpack).

Since 1997, Hollister, Inc. has been distributing Ameda pumps and breastfeeding accessories, yet the Ameda name has been synonymous with breastfeeding products for well over 50 years. Currently, Ameda offers a wide range of breast pumps for rent and for purchase.

Easy-to-use

The Purely Yours breast pump comes packaged in a brightly-colored box. Pictures of pumping moms grace the cover along with points that Ameda feels are important positives of their product: easy-to use, comfortable, convenient and safe. My first taste of the Purely Yours breast pump's ease of use came when I slid the black, backpack out of the box. Much to my delight, assembly – what there was of it – was pretty self-explanatory. In less than one minute, I was set up and ready to pump. (Cleaning is equally easy.)

Comfortable

Instinct told me to be wary of the hard plastic funnel. My past experiences with similar structures left a bad taste in my mouth. But in the spirit of fairness, I did my best to put those thoughts out of my mind. The first two seconds of pumping were uncomfortable, but then I discovered exactly why it is important to have a pump with adjustable settings. I fiddled with both the suction and the speed, and within seconds, I was pumping in pure comfort. My first 15-minute pumping session yielded 4 to 5 ounces.

During my research, I discovered that Ameda sells a Flexishield Areola Stimulator, a flexible insert that can be used with the Purely Yours pump. While I can't attest to its effectiveness, Ameda literature claims that the Flexishield mimics Baby and helps stimulate let-down. This could be a nice alternative for pumping moms who are leery of hard funnels.

Convenient

This is where the Purely Yours breast pump gains beaucoup points. Besides being housed in a super-trendy, sleek backpack, which unzips at the bottom to reveal the motor, this pump operates on three power sources: AC adapter, car adapter and batteries. How's that for convenience?

As a bonus, the Purely Yours breast pump with Backpack can be converted to a manual, one-hand breast pump. While I certainly didn't pump nearly as much with the manual pump as I did with the electric, I could see how nice it would be to have the option – especially if you were dealing with engorgement or simply wanted a "no frills" way to pump a few ounces.

The top half of the backpack houses a "cooler" that contains ice packs and six, 4-ounce, clear plastic bottles.

Safe like the idea that my breast milk is protect from viruses and bacteria. The Purely Yours pump accomplishes this by using a patented diaphragm to create a barrier, which protects the pump and tubing from contamination. (Ameda has obtained FDA clearance to make this claim.)

When my month-long trial period had come to an end, I was happy to see that Ameda's advertising claims on the box – easy-to-use, comfortable, convenient and safe – held true off the box, as well.


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