Breast Pump

Lawmax14 · December 2013

Question: I plan on breastfeeding this baby but was wondering if I needed to buy a breast pump to take to the hospital with me? I trying to save money if I can on anything that is not urgent this next paycheck before she gets here. The reason I ask is some people say they planned on breast feeding and it just didn't work out for them so I would hate to buy an expensive breast pump and never get to use it. Any advice? TIA!

bethughknee · December 2013

This question and others like it ("If I SAH do I need a pump?") has been asked many times. Please feel free to check out the search feature to the right.

MIT721 · December 2013

Call your insurance company before you do anything! Breast Pumps are now covered by insurance and you shouldn't have to pay out of pocket. Also - several will not send it to you until AFTER the baby is born. Make sure you ask that too

Bwhitten · December 2013

Buy a manual one they are way cheaper and later invest in electric pump.

mrsjenni · December 2013

MIT721 said:

Call your insurance company before you do anything! Breast Pumps are now covered by insurance and you shouldn't have to pay out of pocket. Also - several will not send it to you until AFTER the baby is born. Make sure you ask that too

OMG, please stop the madness. Not all insurance companies cover breast pumps.

OP- I didn't open my breast pump until DS was a few weeks old. If you need it right away for some reason, you can rent one from the hospital.

Lawmax14 · December 2013

My insurance is through the Army so I highly doubt it is covered. And ok, I just read that you take a breast pump to the hospital with you and I just didn't even want to buy one yet till I was certain I needed it. Sorry I did not search before asking...sometimes I feel like I can't ask anything on here without people freaking out because I didn't look for it as an earlier post. I'm on my phone so that's a little hard.

bethughknee · December 2013

@Lawmax14 I'm not sure what part of my reply you thought was "freaking out" but I can assure you it was nothing of the sort.

I'm going to beat a dead horse here because I'm feeling cranky today and I think this bears repeating. Again.

Many members of this board have been active for up to 8 months now. Having conversations, asking questions, weighing the options of the answers they receive, etc. It's similar to sitting down with your friends and asking for advice. The conversations flow. If you were sitting down with your friends and someone barged in and asked a question you guys had been discussing basically ad naseuam for hours, wouldn't you feel like telling the person where else they could go find the info they're looking for, rather than repeat yourself....AGAIN? If you want an answer without an opinion, try Google.

Here are the search results on Google for "Should I bring a breast pump to the hospital"
https://www.google.com/#q=should+i+bring+breast+pump+to+hospital

Hope that's easy to read from your phone. Good day.

cpm1223 · December 2013

@bethughknee

bethughknee · December 2013

@cpm1223 I'm wearing my hair curly today so it actually does that adorable little bounce when I shake my head angrily. How convenient!

sugarland726 · December 2013

I love @bethughknee's response. But no, you don't have to bring your pump to the hospital. Likely your milk won't have even come in before you leave, thus rendering your pump useless.

litzo27 · December 2013

mrsjenni said:
...
OP- I didn't open my breast pump until DS was a few weeks old. If you need it right away for some reason, you can rent one from the hospital.

This - hospitals have great pumps. If you'll really need to you can rent it.

bethughknee · December 2013

sugarland726 said:

I love @bethughknee's response. But no, you don't have to bring your pump to the hospital. Likely your milk won't have even come in before you leave, thus rendering your pump useless.

This might be a dumb question. I have a manual pump just in case and I know the real milk doesn't start for a few days but do pumps not work on colostrum? Please tell me if that is just the absolute dumbest question you have ever heard in your whole life.

last14real · December 2013

@bethughknee this is all I could think of when I read your post.

sugarland726 · December 2013

bethughknee said:

sugarland726 said:

I love @bethughknee's response. But no, you don't have to bring your pump to the hospital. Likely your milk won't have even come in before you leave, thus rendering your pump useless.

This might be a dumb question. I have a manual pump just in case and I know the real milk doesn't start for a few days but do pumps not work on colostrum? Please tell me if that is just the absolute dumbest question you have ever heard in your whole life.

Not the dumbest question. It will work on colostrum, but since you (obviously) plan on nursing, you'll nurse the baby directly and give her the colostrum. There isn't really a reason to pump that. The only time I can see pumping in the hospital is if your milk comes in so quickly and with so much that LO can't possibly eat all that straight from the boob.

bensmommy518 · December 2013

I wouldn't worry about bringing it because the likelihood of you needing or using it in the hospital is very slim and if you do the hospital will give you one to use. If you are worried about the cost, just wait until after the birth and you know breastfeeding is working or worth putting the effort into to make it work.

megngregk · December 2013

Lawmax14 said:

My insurance is through the Army so I highly doubt it is covered. And ok, I just read that you take a breast pump to the hospital with you and I just didn't even want to buy one yet till I was certain I needed it. Sorry I did not search before asking...sometimes I feel like I can't ask anything on here without people freaking out because I didn't look for it as an earlier post. I'm on my phone so that's a little hard.

You're right, Tricare will not cover breast pumps. Just an FYI.

MIT721 · December 2013

mrsjenni: Sorry for continuing the madness but a) just trying to be helpful as I don't know what insurance she has b) it's worth it to call and ask as PP mentioned that one type is covered but not the other.

ETA: proper grammar

katags · December 2013

megngregk said:

Lawmax14 said:

My insurance is through the Army so I highly doubt it is covered. And ok, I just read that you take a breast pump to the hospital with you and I just didn't even want to buy one yet till I was certain I needed it. Sorry I did not search before asking...sometimes I feel like I can't ask anything on here without people freaking out because I didn't look for it as an earlier post. I'm on my phone so that's a little hard.

You're right, Tricare will not cover breast pumps. Just an FYI.

I was going to chime in and say this too. I mean, if they won't pay for my glasses which are medically necessary if I want to function as a human being, why would they pay for a luxury items such as a breast pump?

CopperT0p · December 2013

I didn't bring my pump to the hospital with DS. When my milk came in and I was too engorged to feed him, I just manually expressed some milk to take the edge off then he could nurse no problem. If you have latch problems, the hospital should be able to help with that so hopefully you won't have to pump.

rowanthefrog · December 2013

The hospital will have one you can use if you need one there. I started pumping almost right away after the births of both of my boys. So my opinion is yes.

A

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