This year has brought the introduction of not just one reinvented breast pump but -- now -- two. The latest is Elvie Pump, a wearable, all-in-one device. Since the advent of the electronic breast pump, women haven't enjoyed much choice in pumps -- you could rely on strapping on air horn-shaped flanges and dangling bottles from your chest, as tubes leashed you to a noisy, crunching motor plugged into a wall. Your range of choices, for years, were limited to how loud or powerful the machine would be. Now, Elvie joins a lineup of new breast pumps that aim to make it easier for women to pump as they go about their day. Elvie "When it comes to breast pumps, the future is wearable," said Tania Boler, CEO and founder of Elvie. "In two years' time, most of the shelves with breast pumps will look completely different." That level of innovation could be an asset to working mothers. US pediatricians recommend babies be fed breast milk exclusively for the first six months, while the World Health Organization recommends two years. But more than half of new moms are back on the job within four months. For many, that means pumping multiple times a day. Breast pumps that improve mobility and flexibility could help families and working mothers' careers alike. About 70 percent of mothers work, and 40 percent are primary family breadwinners, according to the US Labor Department. After Elvie's first product came out three years ago -- its Trainer device helps women exercise and strengthen their pelvic floor -- it turned its attention to the breast pump. Boler said her team, which includes engineers from vacuum maker Dyson and a co-founder from fitness tracker Jawbone, "started with a blank piece of paper." The result is a cupped gadget that contains all the pumping technology, including a near-silent motor, in one unit. You wear the pumps independently under your clothes, without any tubes or power cords, so you can pump while doing whatever else you're doing, without most people even noticing. The pumps charge in two hours with a USB plug and have two and half hours of battery life. (For most women, a single session of pumping lasts about 10 to 30 minutes.) Elvie If that sounds familiar, it's because a similar pump, Willow, launched in May. Both Elvie and Willow are wearable, quiet, all-in-one pumps you slip into your bra to pump as you go about your day. They both automatically adjust to your body's flow of milk, and they both have a wirelessly connected app to monitor your output. They're both eligible to be paid for with pre-tax dollars in the US but neither is directly subsidized by any health insurers (yet). And they both cost the same. In the US, Elvie Pump will cost $479, just like Willow. In the UK, Elvie costs £429. Elvie One difference between the two is that you can buy a single unit of Elvie's pump. That means you can pump only one side at a time, but it also means you can see if it works for you for about half the cost. You'll be able to buy a single unit for £229 in the UK and $249 in the US. The device will be available in the UK in October, and Elvie hopes to be shipping to US customers by the holidays. While the company awaits approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, it's offering a reserve list for US customers at Elvie.com. There are other differences, too. A big one for cost-conscious moms (i.e. all moms) is the price of storage bags. Willow stores expressed milk in a specialized, doughnut-shaped bag. After a starter pack of 24, each bag costs 50 cents -- so every time you pump, that session sets you back a dollar. And the bags store 4 ounces, so at the height of your milk production you may need to use more than two in a sitting. Instead of bags, Elvie Pump collects expressed breastmilk in a 5-ounce reusable container that you can decant into whatever storage unit you prefer. The container is made of BPA-free plastic and is machine washable. (Elvie has five parts that need to be cleaned, and all are machine washable.) Now playing: Watch this: Elvie launches the next breast pump that makes pumping... Other differences include: Elvie has three sizes of breast shield (21 millimeter, 24 millimeter and 28 millimeter), versus Willow's two sizes (24 millimeter and 27 millimeter), so Elvie theoretically accommodates more breast sizes. Willow has more sizes in the works but they aren't available now. Elvie The Elvie breast shield is transparent, which may make it easier to place on your breast correctly. The placement of your breast inside a pump's shield, or its flange, can be crucial to preventing tissue damage and pain. Willow's flange is opaque. Elvie says it's smaller, lighter and quieter. The two Elvie Pumps combined weigh 14.8 ounces. When I eyeballed the Elvie pump last month, it appeared smaller and slimmer than Willow, but I didn't have the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison. Willow didn't respond to a message about weight and other measurements. Elvie has a toggle on each pump, so you can manually designate which one is on your left and right breasts to keep your output-tracking consistent. Willow has dedicated pumps for left and right. Neither Elvie nor Willow has provided pumps for CNET to review, so we can't compare whether these differences are meaningful or how one stacks up against the other. But the introduction of Elvie Pump gives new moms something they haven't seen in a long time -- choice. Taking It to Extremes: Mix insane situations -- erupting volcanoes, nuclear meltdowns, 30-foot waves -- with everyday tech. Here's what happens. Tech Enabled: CNET chronicles tech's role in providing new kinds of accessibility.<doc-sep>Remember today, because it's one that will go down in the mommy history books. On Sept. 14, Elvie, the award-winning health and lifestyle "femtech" brand, is releasing their brand new Elvie Pump: a silent, wearable pump that fits into your standard nursing bra. With this radical redesign, there's no more lugging around big electric breast pumps, no more tangled cords, and no more of that unmistakable pumping sound. The world's first silent, wearable breast pump is about to change the pumping game. This old breast pump was due for some much-needed innovation. According to research conducted by Elvie in August 2018, only 29.5 percent of US women surveyed "believed that products designed for breastfeeding are as technologically advanced as other consumer technologies." Why? Tania Boler, London-based co-founder and CEO of Elvie, found those stats unacceptable. "It's an essential product for new moms. It gives women the freedom to be the women they want to be, to get back to work, to be the mother they want to be," Boler says in an interview with Romper. "And yet, if you're familiar with the old-school products, they're all tethered to a wall, they're noisy, they're painful, they look like some kind of kickback from the '80s." Elvie Elvie has already made a name for itself with award-winning Elvie Trainer, a kegel exercise tracker, and now the Elvie team had their sights set on a new product that could improve the lives of new moms everywhere. "I began writing on a piece of paper, 'if I could design the perfect pumping experience, what would it be like?'" Boler says. That paper began to fill up with ideas: it would be silent, it would tuck right into your bra, it would be totally unobtrusive, and you could control it through an app on your phone. It sounded like lofty goals for a breast pump, but three years later, the Elvie team has brought Boler's vision to life. "It was all about taking more of a consumer design to what is traditionally seen as a medical device," Boler explains. Elvie The Elvie Pump is designed to be used one-handed (because, as moms know, that's how most things are done once you have a baby). The device is worn under clothing, and the milk is quietly collected in the self-contained pump. Best of all, you don't need to worry about groping yourself in public, trying to adjust things just so. "It's all about just giving women choices, making it as easy as possible. You can either control it on the product, or there's an app," Boler says. The smartphone app, which is compatible with iPhone and Android, shows real-time milk tracking, and even keeps a pumping history for each breast. "Every time, the product can get smarter, know what works for you, and give you better programs," Boler explains. The Elvie Pump allows women to pump on their own terms — just as it should be. The Elvie Pump comes with 5-ounce, reusable, BPA-free bottles that are both dishwasher and microwave safe, as well as two sizes of breast shields. The pump has seven intensity settings, so you're in total control. The Elvie Pump is available for purchase on the Elvie website and Amazon beginning Sept. 14, and will retail for $479 for a double unit. It will make its way to select physical retail stores — like Target and Buy Buy Baby — pending FDA approval (which is expected to happen before the holiday season). "Once women get used to a pump that's this easy to use, this discreet, this quiet, why would they go back to the old architecture?" Boler asks Romper. That's a fantastic question... and I don't think we will go back. The days of loud, inconvenient, bulky breast pumps are behind us, and it's pretty darn exciting.<doc-sep>Elvie has announced a new breast pump that aims to make nursing more friendly for mothers. The Elvie Pump, which the company claims is the world's first silent pump, is controlled through the user's accompanying smartphone app, giving mothers the option to monitor milk flow and track individual sessions for each breast. Read this: Elvie CEO talks Pump and the future of female health tech The idea, Elvie says, is to help mothers use the pump from anywhere in peace, with the device's design cutting the wires and cords traditionally found tethered to pumps. Instead of plugging a device into a wall, the connected pump is able to be used hands-free from the likes of coffee shops or offices, and also able to detect when a bottle is full and automatically pause the flow. The pump also has five parts to clean, while featuring seven different intensity settings for mothers to select the right level of comfort. The Elvie Pump also comes with a breast shield in two sizes, while a third size will also be available to purchase separately. If the Elvie name rings a bell, it's because you may be familiar with the company's first device, the Elvie Trainer, launched last year. The Kegel trainer and app aims to make exercising the pelvic floor. Like Pump, the idea is itâs designed to fit tech into our busy lifestyles - not change up our routines to crowbar shiny new tech in. The Elvie Pump goes on sale from October, costing Â£229 for a single pump and Â£429 for a double. For those in the US, it appears as though only a double unit is available, retailing for $479.<doc-sep>Kegel trainer startup Elvie is launching a smaller, smarter, hands-free breast pump Here's how it stacks up to the Willow and other next generation pumps on the market Elvie, a London-based startup known best for its connected Kegel trainer, is jumping into the breast pump business with a new $480 hands-free system you can slip into your bra. Even with all the innovation in baby gear, breast pumps have mostly sucked (pun intended) for new moms for the past half a century. My first experience with a pump required me to stay near a wall socket and hunch over for a good 20 to 30 minutes for fear the milk collected might spill all over the place (which it did anyway, frequently). It was awful! Next I tried the Willow Pump, an egg-shaped, connected pump meant to liberate women everywhere with its small and mobile design. It received glowing reviews, though my experience with it was less than stellar. The proprietary bags were hard to fit in the device, filled up with air, cost 50 cents each (on top of the $500 pump that insurance did not cover), wasted many a golden drop of precious milk in the transfer and I had to reconfigure placement several times before it would start working. So I’ve been tentatively excited about the announcement of Elvie’s new cordless (and silent??) double breast pump. Elvie tells TechCrunch its aim all along has been to make health tech for women and that it has been working on this pump for the past three years. The Elvie Pump is a cordless, hands-free, closed-system, rechargeable electric pump designed by former Dyson engineers. It can hold up to 5 oz. from each breast in a single use. It’s most obvious and direct competition is the Willow pump, another “wearable” pump moms can put right in their bra and walk around in, hands-free. However, unlike the Willow, Elvie’s pump does not need proprietary bags. You just pump right into the device and the pump’s smartphone app will tell you when each side is full. It’s also half the size and weight of a Willow and saves every precious drop it can by pumping right into the attached bottle so you just pump and feed (no more donut-shaped bags you have to cut open and awkwardly pour into a bottle). On top of that, Elvie claims this pump is silent. No more loud suction noise off and on while trying to pump in a quiet room in the office or elsewhere. It’s small, easy to carry around and you can wear it under your clothes without it making a peep! While the Willow pump claims to be quiet — and it is, compared to other systems — you can still very much hear it while you are pumping. All of these features sound fantastic to this new (and currently pumping) mom. I remember in the early days of my baby’s life wanting to go places but feeling stuck. I was chained to not just all the baby gear, hormonal shifts and worries about my newborn but to the pump and feed schedule itself, which made it next to impossible to leave the house for the first few months. My baby was one of those “gourmet eaters” who just nursed and nursed all day. There were days I couldn’t leave the bed! Having a silent, no mess, hands-free device that fit right in my bra would have made a world of difference. However, I mentioned the word “tentatively” above, as I have not had a chance to do a hands-on review of Elvie’s pump. The Willow pump also seemed to hold a lot of promise early on, yet left me disappointed. To be fair, the company’s customer service team was top-notch and did try to address my concerns. I even went through two “coaching” sessions, but in the end it seemed the blame was put on me for not getting their device to work correctly. That’s a bad user experience if you are blaming others for your design flaws, especially new and struggling moms. Both companies are founded by women and make products for women — and it’s about time. But it seems as if Elvie has taken note of the good and bad in their competitors and had time to improve upon it — and that’s what has me excited. As my fellow TechCrunch writer Natasha put it in her initial review of Elvie as a company, “It’s not hyperbole to say Elvie is a new breed of connected device. It’s indicative of the lack of smart technology specifically — and intelligently — addressing women.” So why the pump? “We recognized the opportunity [in the market] was smarter tech for women,” founder and CEO Tania Boler told TechCrunch on her company’s move into the breast pump space. “Our aim is to transform the way women think and feel about themselves by providing the tools to address the issues that matter most to them, and Elvie Pump does just that.” The Elvie Pump comes in three sizes and shapes to fit the majority of breasts and, in case you want to check your latch or pump volume, also has transparent nipple shields with markings to help guide the nipple to the right spot. The app connects to each device via Bluetooth and tracks your production, detects let down, will pause when full and is equipped to pump in seven different modes. The pump retails for $480 and is currently available in the U.K. However, those in the U.S. will have to wait until closer to the end of the year to get their hands on one. According to the company, it will be available on Elvie.com and Amazon.com, as well in select physical retail stores nationally later this year, pending FDA approval.<doc-sep>
Elvie, the health and lifestyle brand developing smarter technology for women, today announces Elvie Pump, a silent wearable pump that fits into a standard nursing bra. Elvie Pump is a complete departure from existing pump technology, putting women at the center of the design process to create an entirely new pumping experience that offers more freedom and mobility. The truly hands-free pump gives women the flexibility to go about their daily routine while pumping, without worrying about cords, wardrobe changes or the undignified sound of traditional electric breast pumps. Elvie’s differentiated technology means the pump is silent. Worn under clothing, Elvie Pump offers unprecedented discretion when pumping, soundlessly collecting milk in the self-contained pump. Elvie Pump connects to a free smartphone app, allowing women to view real time milk volume and track their pumping history for each breast. Elvie Pump uses proprietary technology to detect the amount of milk in the bottle, enabling it to identify when the bottle is full and automatically pause the pump. Users can also control the pump from their phone, avoiding the need to fiddle with buttons on the pump inside their bra. For women determined to produce enough breast milk for their babies, even after they return to work, a huge lack of innovation in this vital market has left many feeling both physically and psychologically tethered to their pumps. Only 29.5% of US women surveyed in August 2018* believed that products designed for breastfeeding are as technologically advanced as other consumer technologies. Despite the frustration with noisy, labor-intensive and ugly breast pumps, mothers who choose this method have had no choice but to spend a significant amount of time each day using archaic technology to provide breast milk for their child. A mother’s time is extremely important and Elvie Pump makes it possible for women to pump on their own terms, changing the way they feel about breast pumping. “Being a new mother can be incredibly stressful. We spoke to a lot of women about the struggles they experience post-pregnancy and it became obvious that outdated pumping technology was a real obstacle for women wanting to provide breast milk for their baby,” said Tania Boler, Founder and CEO of Elvie. “Women need technology that keeps up with their busy lifestyles, especially at a time of so much change. We designed Elvie Pump to make breast pumping as easy, streamlined and flexible as possible for moms. Our aim is to transform the way women think and feel about themselves by providing the tools to address the issues that matter most to them, and Elvie Pump does just that. We’re excited to be launching a product we know will be a huge leap forward in this space.” Elvie Pump Product Features: Single-user, closed system electric pump 5oz. reusable, BPA free bottles that are dishwasher and microwave safe Stimulation and Expression modes 7 intensity settings, providing complete control over what feels comfortable and works most efficiently Rechargeable via USB Includes breast shield in two sizes for the best fit (a third size is available to purchase as a separate accessory) Compatible with iPhones 5S and newer (iOS10+) and Android phones with version 6 and newer that support Bluetooth Low Energy Elvie Pump retails for $479 for a double unit. It will be available on Elvie.com and Amazon.com, as well in select physical retail stores nationally later this year pending FDA approval. To view the media kit, click here. For further information or comment please contact the Elvie press team at elvie(at)sourcecodecomms.com. About Elvie: Founded in 2013, Elvie is a British brand developing smarter technology for women. Elvie creates extraordinary products to improve women’s health and lives. Their first product, Elvie Trainer, is an award-winning pelvic floor trainer and app that helps women strengthen the pelvic floor via fun, five-minute workouts. Elvie Trainer is recommended by more than 1,000 health professionals worldwide to enhance pelvic floor muscle training compliance, technique and outcomes. In 2017, Elvie was recognized as one of the UK’s top 33 startups by TechCityUK, won "Hottest Hardware Startup" at The Europas, was named one of the 15 startups “To Watch” by The Sunday Times and listed as the 13th fastest-growing business in the UK by SyndicateRoom. For more information visit elvie.com. *Research conducted by AYTM on behalf of Elvie in August 2018 with over 2,000 US female respondents aged 18-65+ years