Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump Review | 6 Reasons Why You Need It

I have a special relationship with my Avent Isis breast pump. This little pump is my first pump and also the one I reached whenever I needed a quick pumping session.

But then it was broken a few months ago. So I was in search again for a good quality manual pump. Until I found Medela Harmony breast pump.

I was not so sure at that time despite reading its great reviews. But after I tried it by myself, I’m pretty convinced this pump is on par with my previous Avent pump, and even better. If you are looking whether you should invest in a manual breast pump, especially Medela Harmony, you are in the right place.

In this Medela Harmony manual breast pump reviews, I'll discuss the detailed pros and cons of Medela Harmony, including 6 reasons why you may need this manual breast pump.

(this post contains Amazon's affiliate link, that means I earn commissions from qualifying purchases)

1. Patented design: 2-phase expression.

Medela Harmony comes with 2-phase expression design. That means, you can use this pump in massage mode and expression mode, similar to the available modes in electric breast pump.

Here’s how:

• To use the pump in massage mode, press forward the smaller part of the pump handle. By pressing and releasing quickly, you have mimicked the way your baby stimulates let-down. 
• Once your milk starts flowing, change to expression mode by pressing the lower end of the handle.  You can control the speed and the vacuum by adjusting how far you press it and how quickly you do the press-release cycle. 

2. Ability to change flange (breast shield) size. 

Since the Medela Harmony design is using 2-piece breast shield, it is very easy to change the breast shield to other sizes, including:

• Medela personafit breast shield, with sizes ranging from 21 to 36 mm.
• Maymom insert (sizes from 17, 19, and 21 mm).
• You can even use other  flanges such as the angled ones from Pumpin Pals or silicon flanges. I have yet to see other manual breast pump with this kind of flexibility!

3. Compact and Lightweight.

This manual pump is very compact and would easily fit inside your bag. You can even put the whole thing inside your cooler bag.

4. Totally quiet.

There's no noise unlike electric breast pumps. No squeaky sound unlike Avent manual breast pump. So you can pump discreetly everywhere. In the plane, movie, every where. 

5. Super affordable.

Don't worry, this little pump is easy on your pocket.

6. Pump parts are widely available.

Since Medela is a leading brand in breast pump industry, the pump parts are available in most mom and baby stores.

1. Tiring. 

Pumping with Medela Harmony means your hand needs to work hard pressing and squeezing the handle.If you have not tried using manual pump before, it can be tiring at first. But once you get used to it, it’s actually pretty quick and effective. 

2. Takes longer to empty both breasts  

Since this is a single pump, you will need double time to empty each breast. Pump on one side, then switch side.

Hint: you can pump faster using the hack I mentioned below.

So you may think, who will need a manual breast pump when there are a lot of electric breast pumps in the market.

A manual breast pump is suitable for several occasions such as for: 

1. Moms who wants to relieve engorgement. Using a manual pump, you can clear engorgement faster because you can manoeuvre and control the pump (including how to position it against your breast) as you wish. Not to mention there are less part to wash. Additionally, pumping to relieve engorgement does not need to be long. I’d certainly choose my small manual pump over bigger pump for this job.

2. As a backup pump for working moms. Yes, you may have a full-size double electric breast pump for you regular use. But sometimes, it is necessary to have a backup manual pump for just in case. In case your electric pump suddenly broke, or you forgot to bring the necessary pump parts and so on.
3. Moms who plan to leave their baby occasionally. So you are exclusively breastfeeding and do not plan to go back to work soon. But perhaps you may need express milk while you are having a date night, or simply need to go out for some errands. You may not need to purchase an electric pump for this, a good quality manual pump such as Medela Harmony will suffice.
4. You do not respond well to electric breast pump. I hope you are not in this category, but sometimes certain moms simply do not respond well with electric breast pump (and they are doing fine breastfeeding). Before you decide that pumping is not for you, give manual breast pump a try. You may be surprised that you may be able to express milk faster with a manual pump. 
5. You want to thoroughly empty your breast but have not mastered hand expression. I bet most of you already know by now that dual pumping (by electric breast pump) followed by hand expression is the best way to thoroughly empty your breast. But you have tried and tried hand expression and it’s simply not comfortable. Fret not, you can do manual pumping in replacement of hand expression. I did this too (=D), and I can happily report that this method is one of the secret key of my healthy milk supply. 
6. You do not have budget for dual electric breast pump. I hear you. I was in the same boat when I was pumping for my first baby. The double electric breast pump at that time was crazily expensive and I could only afford a manual pump. Don’t worry, you will still be able to get pumping done with a manual breast pump. And if you want to cut down the time needed for pumping, check out the following pumping hack.

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1. Pair Medela Harmony with Haakaa silicone pump. 

Latch Medela on one breast and latch Haakaa to the other side, switch side once the milk flow slows down, then repeat. 

A lot of moms have been using this trick with great success. So whether you can’t buy an electric pump or do not respond well to an electric pump, do try this method. 

2. Pair Medela Harmony with a single electric breast pump.

This is what I tried before I found Spectra breast pump. At that time, I only had Medela Swing breast pump and did not respond so well to it. So I pair my Medela Swing with  a manual breast pump to  make pumping faster. Similarly, you can use Medela Harmony on one side and the electric breast pump on the other side. You may be surprised that you can pump  faster this way.

Even though nowadays mom tends to choose electric breast pump, It doesn’t mean manual breast pump is useless. For some moms, using manual breast pump may still be a good and effective way to express breast milk. 

And if you want to invest in a manual pump, choose the one with good quality. And Medela Harmony certain fits the bill. 

I hope this Medela Harmony Breast Pump review is useful for you who are searching for a good quality manual breast pump.

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Have you tried using a manual breast pump before? If yes, what brand do you use? Do you like it? Feel free to share you experience in the comments.