Elvie Pump review

Elvie has created a much-loved (and now iconic) breast pump that fits in your bra with no tubes or wires and is available in single or double options, leaving both your hands free.

The most impressive feature of this electric breast pump by far is that it's silent, which if you’ve used other breast pumps before, you’ll know is a godsend. And if you’re into your apps and want to track things like milk volume, pump history and to control the pump remotely, then you can do so with the Elvie Pump, too.

What’s in the box?

• 1 Electric Breast Pump
• 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

Testing the Elvie Pump

My first experience of using a pump was in 2019 when my first child was born. I started my pumping journey by using a Medela Symphony (hospital-grade breast pump). This was in the first week of giving birth and it did a fine job for the short time we spent together. For the next year, I used a Medela Swing Electric breast pump – it came with tubes and wires tangling aplenty and was a loud pumping machine, so pumping at night was jarring. The Medela came in two parts, with a pump bottle and an electric pump. Each part came with more parts. While this isn’t a Medela bashing session, as we know they’re a reputable brand and have helped women all over the world, I can now say that having used the Elvie, I have quickly discovered the torture I went through while using the Medela. The late-night feeds with the ‘err-err’ pump noise still haunts me today.

The Elvie was (is) a revelation. Recommended by a friend who said, ‘it’s f****** silent and will change your life’ was only half of it. The Elvie is a hands-free pump that is worn under your bra and can be fitted more securely, if you wish, with bra adjusters (provided when you purchase the pump). I popped mine under the bra and it sat so snug, that I never used the bra adjusters. The bottle and hub click together, with the breast shield fitting into the hub situated at the back. It may leave your chest looking slightly more inflated than usual, but it’s a small price to pay for such a genius device.

The front of the hub houses the power button, the toggle to tell the pump when you’re on the left or right breast and 7 suction settings to switch between. After sterilising the 150ml capacity bottles and breast shield, I’d pop the Elvie Pump on at 1pm or 1am and would happily pump. Happily – a word I'd never associate with expressing breastmilk, ever. I stuck to a daytime pump, because you can’t lay down and pump at the same time. Although the pump is silent so the early morning pumps were a dream – I could sit silently feeding on one breast and pump with the other. Or just pump without waking anyone up from a loud pump sound.

Other than the silent pump, you really can go stealth mode, especially if you download the app. The Elvie Pump app lets you adjust the suction sections from your smartphone, which is very helpful and saves you jumping down your bra to adjust settings from the hub. This means you can feel that little bit more confident, say when family and friends are around. You can also use the app to track how many times you’ve pumped previously and to monitor milk volume. This can really help you to also figure out the best times to pump for yourself. I loved how lightweight the entire mechanism is, I would genuinely forget it was there after a while.

I store my breastmilk in the freezer using milk pouches and the Elvie bottle accommodates this perfectly – the moment you remove the bottle from the pump (which you can do so safely without worry of spilling any milk!) you can pour it straight into a bottle or milk pouch with the silicone spouts already inserted. These spouts help to connect the bottle to hub, but are handy for pouring. If you fancied it, you could also pump and seal the bottles provided and store them immediately in the fridge or freezer.

I could pop the pump on and have complete trust that it’s doing its thing – once there was no more milk being expressed or the bottle was full, I would know because the Elvie would simply stop pumping. This breast pump gave me full confidence and having that kind of trust is so crucial in this early stage of motherhood/newborn life. It has definitely changed my life and gave me time and mental headspace back to do other things – as opposed to being tied to a plug socket and constantly worrying whether the bottle was filling/was full.

Final thoughts

There are not many changes I'd make and honestly the only reason it’s getting 4 stars is that I think Elvie could crack a few more options and make this the best breast pump there ever was. When you turn on the pump, the hub starts expressing at full suction mode 7, which shocks your nipple! So, I would like the suction settings to be on 1 to start with and give me the option to lead up to higher settings.

One thing that wasn’t ideal was that you can’t charge the hub and pump at the same time! This caused slight frustration when I needed to pump but the Elvie wasn’t charged. Although I didn’t have to wait long, maybe 10 minutes to get a bit of charge to sort out that engorged breast. However even 10 mins more with an engorged breast is painful enough. And lastly, for such a silent pump, it would be perfect if you could lay down and pump – to be honest, I’m sure this is a lot to ask for but as a mum, we cherish any moments of sleep we can get, so to be able to pump and sleep would be heaven. Too much to ask for? You be the judge.

Alternatives to the Elvie pump