An honest review of the Elvie silent cordless breast pump

an honest review from a hardcore pumper

The new silent, cordless, hassle free elvie breast pump.

I’ve now been exclusively pumping for almost 4 months so I am more than familiarised with the breast pump. You can read my breastfeeding story over here, if you wanted to know why I’m exclusively pumping, or read more about exclusively pumping over here. I mean for me pumping is not an occasional thing, or a just because thing, it’s been a six time a day thing, and it’s currently a four time a day thing.

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I have spilt SO much milk, and cried almost every time I’ve done so, I’ve left colostrum in Joseph’s freezer at work (because ours was being defrosted) only to find it discarded a few days later on the counter top after the cleaner’s routine freezer clean out…I was distraught. I’ve produced loads of milk and no milk. I’ve had bruised nipples and cracked nipples. I’ve pumped in toilets, cars, on the beach, and up and down the country. My cords are tangled, there’s been mouldy tubes, there’s been so many lost parts and no matter which set up I try and find to make pumping that bit easier…it’s not getting any easier and there I am, in a milky mess on Hephzibah’s floor, amidst a tangle of wires, top up, milking my breasts, flanges in position to the anthem of an almighty loud and obnoxious hum, potentially the least attractive i’ve ever felt.

Yet, my girl gets my milk, and while it’s been tough, while it’s messed with my brain and made pancakes out of my breasts; it’s what I want to do right now and it’s what I can do right now.

With a trip to China, New Zealand and Cambodia at the end of the year and with my current pumping set up, I had half resigned to thinking that at 8 months old I’d have to stop pumping for Hephzibah. I couldn’t imagine a jet lagged me on a long haul flight hand expressing in the bathroom, or taking my cables and wires to the great wall of China, and attempting to find a socket at some spot along the way.

But then, about a month back now a friend sent a link to Elvie’s new pump. And, as I clicked on it, as if surrounded in a golden halo singing the most glorious song, the pump that could forever change the game.

Or could it?

Here is an honest review from a hardcore pumper of the Elvie’s latest release- the silent cordless breast pump.

Elvie pride themselves on bringing women’s technology out of the dark ages, wanting to improve women’s lives through smarter technology. Elvie is only their second product so far, standing alongside a Kegel trainer, that helps women to improve their pelvic floor. Earlier last month they released their new silent hassle free breast pump and everything kicked off! It was what everyone was waiting for…confirmed by the fact that they sold out within a few days.

What’s in the box?

You have the choice of purchasing either a single or a double pump. I went with the single pump, here’s what was in the box.

1 Electric Breast Pump at £249.00

• 2 Bottles (150ml)

• 2 Storage Lids

• 1 Breast Shield (24mm)

• 1 Breast Shield (28mm)

• 2 Valves

• 2 Spouts

• 2 Seals

• 2 Bra Adjusters

• 1 USB Charging Cable

• 1 Carry Bag

first use (&beyond)

The first time I used it was not in the best circumstances, but it means I could truly see if the product was all it was made out to be.

On our way north from Brighton to see some friends our brakes failed and we found ourselves with our broken down car in the middle of Chelsea.

My pump had arrived only that morning. I’d sterilised the parts before I left, charged it in the car and little did I know that I would be using it in the middle of Cafe Nero just a few hours later.

Taking refuge in cafe nero until the AA guy got there I slipped into the toilet, popped the pump in my bra as best I knew how at the time, and waltzed out like an absolute boss. It wasn’t until about 15 minutes later when I felt a warm touch of moisture below my breast that I realised I was leaking my sweet golden nectar, and my whole entire top was covered in milk. I slumped back off to the bathroom to remove not only the pump but my sodden undershirt too, and would be without one for the rest of the weekend as our car ended up getting towed to a nearby garage.

The whole leaking kinda threw me, and the second time I went on to use it I leaked too, and then multiple times after.

I found myself disappointed with the product quickly. I feel like I’d thrown every possible egg I owned into one basket before the pump had even arrived,(something Joseph had warned me about) believing it truly was gonna change my life and perhaps even make pumping an enjoyable occasion.

This maybe wasn’t helped by the fact there was so few reviews on the product yet the ones I had seen were via channel mum and everyone on there was completely impressed by the product, using it whilst out and about, in the park, cafe and breastfeeding, all giving it 5/5 stars. On top of these reviews I’d watched the promo for the pump (that you can find linked above), and despite many saying it made light of the “horrors” of the dairy industry, I personally thought it was incredibly liberating and true to life portrayal of how I do feel when pumping. But, whilst it was liberating in a female empowerment kinda way, it signalled to me too that i’d be liberated whilst wearing the pump, even being able to bust out a dance move or two no and not ending up with an ounce of spilt milk on them at the end. Yet here I sit, trying to do everything to make it not leak whilst sat on my bed frozen in one position. I can’t begin to image what would happen if I did decide to shake my tail feathers.

I have written to Elvie a few times telling them about my poor experience so far with the product and this is what they suggested:

“The following tips should help:
1. Ensure your bra fit is right - Elvie Pump should be held securely in your bra, and there should be no gaps between Elvie Pump and your breast. The Bra Adjuster should only be used with tight fitting bras with very little stretch.
2. Once you’ve got Elvie Pump securely in your bra, we suggest keeping the pump predominantly upright while you pump to ensure you get the most out of your pumping session. In no way should this mean you have to stay completely still: we’ve had users pump whilst feeding their baby, out for meals and going to the park. It may just be a little bit of trial and error to determine what works for you. ”

I have since read another review and many more from a mums who have experienced leaking.

I like and appreciate that Elvie aren’t shy of letting their users know that it takes some practice, yet i can’t help but feel after tens of attempts, different shield sizes, positions and with different bras, there may be a fault with the machine, it shouldn’t still be leaking, and I don’t think, and didn’t expect it to be this hard! AND, I definitely didn’t pay £224.00 for the product to sit on the side and have occasional use when I can bring myself to face another sodden bra.

I do feel this taints my whole review of the product, a product that I wanted to completely shout about from the rooftops. If this is just a fault with the particular Elvie I have, then the story could be very different but below anyway is an overview.

DESIGN/APPEARANCe: 5/5

The pump itself is beautifully designed, not only in comparison to other pumps on the market but as a stand alone product. It is so sleek, attractive and minimal. It is a lot smaller and lighter than I had imagined and far superior to any other pumps I have laid hands on.

useability: 5/5

It appears that Elvie have done everything possible to craft a product that is easy to use, and hassle free. Everything is fairly self explanatory.

There are few parts which make it easy to sterilise and assemble and easy to transport! This has been one of my biggest problems with the Medela.

The pump comes with two different sized breast shields that you are able to try out to see what is best for you and a third option on the website if none of these work suitably.

The instructions are clear, plus videos of demonstrations on either youtube or the app.

The app: 4/5

The app is well thought out. You are able to track each session which lets you know how long you’ve been pumping for, how much you’ve been pumping and how much charge there is on hub. You are able to set a timer for each session if needed, and then control whether you need a higher or lower intensity and are able to stimulate another let down too. There is also a history section allowing you to see how much you’ve pumped in total on each session as well as a help section and info section.

The main problem I have come up against with the app is the accuracy in showing how much milk has been pumped. As seen in the picture above, whilst pumping you can see the circle filling up to signal how much milk has been expressed. I often find the line flitting between multiple numbers, at one point saying I have 100mls of milk and then just seconds later dipping to 20mls of milk and back and forth again. I’ve also recently been experiencing the pump automatically switching itself off thinking the container has reached capacity. Yet, when i take the pump off I only find it to be half full.

Functionality: 1/5

I was keen to see how well the product would draw out milk. Especially as I have used many pumps and have found none to be as effective as the Medela swing. Even when the product is not leaking as I have mentioned above, (that being another problem contributing to the low score on functionality) I don’t find there to be a great deal of suction. To try and overcome this I have tried multiple breast shield sizes including the smaller one they don’t include in the pack but sell separately on their website. I didn’t find this made any difference to the suction level or to help stop the product from leaking.

Whilst the product charges well and efficiently, I assumed the charge would last for longer than it does. It lasts for around 2 hours. Which probably would be fine if I was more efficient in remembering to charge it…doh!

Compared to standard breast pumps the pump is definitely silent. Again, this may just be my pump but mine has been making a few strange noises that I’ve recorded to send to the team. It’s making a sound like a foot pump, like it’s trying to gain suction but can’t. But even if this was the noise it made this really isn’t an issue as it’s so quiet compared to other pumps on the market.

value for money: 4/5

Let’s face it, it’s pricey. But for what it’s claiming to do I think it is totally worth the money.

I’ve obviously had a poor experience with it, so its hard to mark this question.

final thoughts. would i recommend?

I guess I was wrong to believe that the Elvie would solve all my pumping problems, extracting milk from my breast is never going to be the most carefree task in the world no matter how advanced the technology?

It goes without saying that the concept of this product is incredible. It is empowering and in theory game changing. For me as of yet the product itself has not been able to match up and i’m hoping it’s a fault with my particular model.

I hope the launch of this product encourages other designers and dreamers to bring out more pumps with a similar concept so that in a few years, cords and roaring whirrs of noise whilst attaching a flanged shaped cone to your breast, will be long forgotten.

Let me know if there are any questions, i’d also love to know if you’re an Elvie pump user too! Let me know how you’ve been getting on!

ps. Since writing this post I have returned my Elvie pump. I continued to have issues with it and parts breaking, and it was just was not extracting milk well enough. It seems this has been the case for many people and not just me!

Read more about my exclusively pumping journey over here.