Hygeia Enjoye Breast Pump Review

Picking a breast pump was one of the most confusing choices in the baby registry process.  As a soon-to-be working mom, I knew that my breast pump and I needed to be best friends, and any frustration I had with a pump would be multiplied by many pumping sessions, many days a week and (I hope) many months.  With that said, I know that not everyone is able to breastfeed, and I although I was committed to doing everything I could to make it work for us, there was a chance that I'd spend a lot of money on a pump that I would never end up using.  I started researching pumps and at first, figured that I'd end up with a Medela pump- it seemed like almost everyone I knew had used it, and liked it just fine.  I'm sort of an obnoxious over-researcher though, and I couldn't find anyone that LOVED it.  One of my favorite momma bloggers, however, posted a glowing review of her pump, and I was intrigued.  I had never heard of the company, Hygeia, but after clicking around and learning about them I was definitely impressed.

Here are the reasons I thought the Hygeia Enjoye pump would be awesome before I chose it:
1. This company stands behind its product.  The pump comes with a 21-day guarantee that you will love it, and if you don't, and they can't find a different pump of theirs that you DO love, you can return it (used!).  There is also a THREE YEAR warranty against defects.
2. The Hygeia is a green pump.  I had never thought about it, but as breast pumps are generally single-user products, there are a whole lot of pumps (many barely used) sitting in landfills.  The Hygeia is designed to be a multi-user pump.  All of the parts that touch milk or mom can be swapped out, so the pump can be sold or passed down to a new user who only has to purchase a "personal accessory kit" for $30.  Rentable hospital pumps are designed this way, and it's crazy to me that more pumps aren't.  If you don't want to sell your pump, you can return it (free) to Hygeia when you're finished with it and they'll recycle it for you.
3. Hygeia is a small company that I feel good about supporting, and they have great customer service.  I've had nothing but awesome and personalized service from them from day one, including the availability of lactation consultants if needed.
4. The pump bag is cute.  Yes, lame, but I plan to carry this thing to work four times a week for a year or more... it will probably become my only work bag, so I might as well like the way it looks.

I received my pump in the mail a couple of weeks before my due date, checked it out, was sort of overwhelmed by the whole thing having never really seen a pump before, and stuck it back in its bag.  I planned to pull it back out when my little guy reached four weeks, which is when my lactation consultant recommended starting the process of getting him used to bottle feeding.  Unfortunately, due to some drama surrounding delivery, I needed to be away from my baby and pump earlier than that.  Once I was reunited with my babe, it was recommended that I continue the pumping in addition to breastfeeding in order to ensure a good supply.  I used the hospital pump while I was there, and because the lactation consultant was adamant that I really needed a high quality pump for my purpose, was all set to rent it and bring it home when she asked what kind of pump I had at home.  When I mentioned that I had the Hygeia, she was super impressed and said there would be no need to rent the hospital pump! 

Now that I've had a chance to really use this pump (starting one week postpartum), here's why I love it:
1. The lactation consultant's enthusiasm about the pump made me feel really confident about it.  It's a professional-grade pump.
2. It's completely simple to use.  I definitely admit to being overwhelmed at first, but once I actually attempted it, I had a "wait, that's it?" moment.  Definitely nice during the early confusion-filled days of mommahood.
3. The parts are super easy to clean- I hear this isn't the case with all pumps.
4. The pump comes with two wide mouth bottles to pump into and also converter rings to use with smaller mouth bottles.  I have yet to find a bottle that I can't use with it (Medela, Ameda, Dr. Brown's, and Snappies are the ones I've used).
5. The rechargeable battery means I can pump where ever I want and don't have to worry about finding a convenient outlet or the additional step of plugging it in.  It's also lightweight and everything fits easily in the bag with plenty of room to spare.
6. They really did think of everything: it comes with a bottle holder, and in addition, a plastic piece on the front of the pump folds out to hold a flange.  When you're balancing a pumping session on the couch or in bed, this makes all the difference between spilling and saving your liquid gold.
7. The pump has this totally unique and clever "CARE" system.  That stands for "Customized Audio Recording Experience".  Basically you can record your baby crying and play it back when you are pumping to help with your letdown. 

Drawbacks:
1. I find the motor a bit noisy.  Other reviews of this pump remark about how quiet it is, so maybe other pumps are even noisier... I wouldn't know.  Sometimes I throw a blanket or pillow over the pump once I set the dials how I want them.
2. The CARE recording buttons are large and right on the front and I always bump the record and play buttons so I have random recordings of us talking and it makes me jump when I play them back by mistake.

I know this isn't a mainstream pump, so if you are have any questions about it I'd be happy to help.  Overall, I'm so glad that I decided to go out on a limb and give this pump a try... I'm super happy with it.  Given how awesome it is, you might think that it would be really expensive, but it's on par with some of the higher quality Medela pumps, and can be found on sale from time to time (Zulily had it recently).


{Full Disclosure: After choosing this pump (I actually registered for it and everything), I contacted the company to see if they would be interested in giving me a pump in exchange for an honest review- and they agreed!  Please be assured though, that I'm under no obligation to give this pump a positive review, and if I didn't like it, I'd let you know.}