PDA

View Full Version : Bring breastpump to hospital?



LD92599
06-21-2010, 04:12 PM
I haven't even opened the box to my PIS! Should i plan to bring it to the hospital? I didn't w/ my first since i didn't have a pump, but rented one after a few weeks at home. I eventually did buy one.

swissair81
06-21-2010, 04:14 PM
Why would you do that? Hospital grade pumps are far superior & should be provided upon request. Why should you bring in something you don't have to?

HonoluluMom
06-21-2010, 04:16 PM
I didn't bring my PISA to the hospital. I wanted to concentrate on learning how to breast feed (first child) and my thinking was if I couldn't learn how to use the pump on my own, I could always contact La Leche or our local breast milk center.

citymama
06-21-2010, 04:17 PM
I don't think you need to. Hopefully you won't need it at all, but if you do, the hospital pumps would be better and spare you from having to sterilize and care for - they will do it all. The hospital gave me a little hand-held Ameda pump and bottles to take home in case I needed one to reduce engorgement.

SnuggleBuggles
06-21-2010, 04:43 PM
Under normal circumstances, everything smooth and uncomplicated, I can't see any reason why you would need one. Baby will be latched on enough that during the down time you probably won't want to pump.

eta- with ds1 I was home 20 hours post birth and with ds2 I was home 7 hours later. Never got to the engorged part there.
Beth

maiaann
06-21-2010, 04:49 PM
Why would you do that? Hospital grade pumps are far superior & should be provided upon request. Why should you bring in something you don't have to?

:yeahthat: That was my thinking! One less thing to worry about!

GonnaBeNana
06-21-2010, 05:22 PM
I would think for a 24 hour or less stay, your milk wouldn't even be in yet, so there'd be nothing to pump right? I could be wrong here of course, it's been a long time for me!

It is possible to pump from the VERY beginning? My DD wants to EP, but I didn't think that it was possible to pump colostrum. Is it possible? I'm trying to encourage her to nurse at least initially to give her baby that at least and then pump if she's not comfortable nursing.

As for bringing your own, I wouldn't. Just use the hospital one if necessary. Less to haul and possibly get lost, etc. Good pumps are EXPENSIVE! I wouldn't risk having my stolen.

Beth

Myira
06-21-2010, 05:37 PM
My DD did not latch on and I pumped colostrum for her starting day 1. I used the hospital pump that was provided and then bought my PISA before leaving the hospital.

jerigirl
06-21-2010, 06:33 PM
My DD did not latch on and I did pumped colostrum for her starting day 1. I used the hospital pump that was provided and then bought my PISA before leaving the hospital.

:yeahthat: Although I rented a pump to have available at home.

wellyes
06-21-2010, 06:34 PM
Ideally you won't need it. If you do need a pump, they'll have ones nicer than the PIS there. So I say skip it.

DebbieJ
06-21-2010, 06:35 PM
I would find out if your hospital has one available 24/7. If not, I would bring your own.

I got stuck at the hospital with no pump and was separated from my baby for 14 hours after birth (crash c-section, baby in special care nursery). All they could give me was a single hand pump and it was AWFUL!!!!!!

luckytwenty
06-21-2010, 07:14 PM
You wouldn't need to bring it to the hospital. I did use a pump when my milk didn't come in after 4 days PP (c-section w/ complications--was in the hospital 6 days total), and the pump helped a lot. I ended up renting it.

ewpmsw
06-21-2010, 08:01 PM
I didn't bring one to the hospital for first delivery and don't plan to for second, for all of the reasons already stated.

On the other hand, when I asked about the hospital's pump, the nurse I spoke to said they'd have to dig it out, she wasn't sure how to use it, I'd have to wait until morning for the LC to find it and get it set up... I was pretty surprised, but guess they just didn't need it much.

newg
06-21-2010, 08:30 PM
like everyone else already mentioned, I wouldn't bring it.........the hospital pumps are far superior to any pump you can buy, and it is nice to have one less thing to worry about while you're there.

I'm going to have mine clean and ready to go, but plan on using the hospital pump while I'm there.

lizzywednesday
06-21-2010, 09:07 PM
I would think for a 24 hour or less stay, your milk wouldn't even be in yet, so there'd be nothing to pump right? I could be wrong here of course, it's been a long time for me!

It is possible to pump from the VERY beginning? My DD wants to EP, but I didn't think that it was possible to pump colostrum. Is it possible? I'm trying to encourage her to nurse at least initially to give her baby that at least and then pump if she's not comfortable nursing.

My DD was in the ICU due to a heart defect that made it impossible for her to latch & suckle properly - she would have tired far too quickly to encourage a letdown.

Without the hospital pump, I wouldn't have been able to collect that precious colostrum in those first few days after her birth!!!

Yes, if Baby is unable to nurse right away, as mine was, your DD should by all means plan on pumping to help the milk come in. Otherwise, nursing is a much more ideal situation than EPing without a medical reason. I would have traded my right arm to have been able to cuddle my baby right away, but she needed to go to the ICU for monitoring. She was 2 days old before I was able to hold her; she was a week old before we tried nursing. That was hard for me emotionally.

If it's possible, ask the hospital if their pumps have an extended letdown phase programmed into them. Mine did & I am thankful they did as I feel it encouraged my milk production. (I used a Medela brand Symphony pump with a "Preemie Plus" program to get my milk in, followed by the regular Symphony program to EP while DD was recovering.)

There's plenty of time after Baby comes home to get to know the pump.

AshleyAnn
06-22-2010, 12:01 AM
I used the hospital's pump while there. Its one less thing to keep up with and take home.

GonnaBeNana, Yes - you can pump from day one. DD could not latch on and was very uninterested so the LC brought me a pump and I managed to get 2 oz the first time and over an oz every try after that. It is much easier to BF that EP so I would suggest she try it. I BF the first 5 weeks then pumped for 3 before going to formula and honestly, BFing was much easier that pumping or formula. Its much much easier to feed the baby directly by just lifting your t-shirt than washing bottles or trying to care for a baby while pumping for 20 minutes every few hours.

LD92599
06-22-2010, 11:02 AM
Thanks everyone, i'll leave it at home! I also don't recall using a pump in the hospital for DS and i don't think i used one at home at least for a week or so.

GonnaBeNana
06-22-2010, 01:37 PM
Thanks from me too! My DD has lots of time to decide, but is getting closer to trying to BF as well. All of your help and suggestions are great as usual!

Beth

LBW
06-22-2010, 01:40 PM
One bonus to using the hospital pumps is that you'll get an extra set of tubes and horns (is that what they're called??!) to bring home.

lizzywednesday
06-22-2010, 01:46 PM
One bonus to using the hospital pumps is that you'll get an extra set of tubes and horns (is that what they're called??!) to bring home.

Colloquially, yeah, that's what we call 'em.

Be sure you work with the LC to get the right size horns; the standard ones (Medela brand is 24mm) gave me a friction injury on my left side within the 1st day because they were too small. The midwives gave me the next 2 sizes up (27mm & 30mm) to try so I could customize the fit.

srhs
06-22-2010, 02:31 PM
Why would you do that? Hospital grade pumps are far superior & should be provided upon request. Why should you bring in something you don't have to?

My hospital with DS1 did NOT have breast pumps! Did NOT! I had checked in advance and thought they did but rather their other hospital in the area did, so they were confused when I inquired.
At a different hospital with DS2, they were only available during the day, since that is when the LCs worked.

I personally didn't need one at the hospital either time, but I'm reading some real stories here of mamas who did, so I'm just sayin'......