Medela Symphony

Amazing spend! – I have tried the harmony, which was also good for manual pumping but this has been so much easier and less time spent expressing. Would recommend to anyone to ssve yourself time and be able to get more jobs done around the house Show details

A powerful and efficient machine – I used Medela Symphony in the hospital to establish my milk supply and continued to use it during the early weeks of my breastfeeding. It was very effective and comfortable. And it doesn’t hurt my nipple. Also very quiet. Definitely recommend it. Show details

This is the pump you should get if you’re struggling with supply – In the early days after delivery I was struggling with milk supply, with my Avent single pump, I was only getting 70 mls for the whole day. This pump truly helped as I could see more milk each day, within a 1 week of use, I was pumping 40-50 mls per session and slowly it increased to 100-125 mls per session. I used it for 2.5 months and then… Read more ·  1

switched to another hospital grade pump, which am still using.

The only issue was the membranes needed to be replaced, due to constant use, which Medela sent me some for free!

Yes, its heavy and expensive to hire but it was only because of this pump I was able to increase my milk supply.

Highly recommend this pump! Medela website has all the info about where these pumps are available for hire.

It Saves the day!!! – The Medela Symphony breast pump is so comfortable and effective and so easy to use. It has helped me express milk for my little boy. I use the breast pump at least twice a day and if I'm traveling, it's nice and easy to transport it around with me. I just pop it into a carry bag with all the bits and pieces. I'm very satisfied with the amount… Read more ·  1

of milk I'm expressing. After I express 50-80 mls I just divide it up and put 10mls in ice block containers and put it in the freezer using a syringe.

Great electric breastpump gets the job done and comfortable/easy to use! – Breastpump is very comfortable and very easy to use with only two nozzles! Easy to clean, travel with and can travel with it. Its very heavy though, i use everyday multiple times exoressing in between feeds, i am able to express alot of milk and find the bottles/attachments reasonably priced. i used this item in hospital and wanted to continue using the same product  Show reply

Worked for 3 months now very poor flow – We got recommended this brand and now highly regret buying it. At first it worked very well but now 3 months it's hardly flowing. We have tried everything from cleaning the unit as instruction manual says and still poor results. It has also nothing to do with my wife's flow as she can manually express without any issues so this unit is a stay away!

Easy to use – Used this for my first bub. It is easy to use but very heavy.. For sure can't move or carry and use it. Also very loud But only 20mins and done because it's double breast pump...so no taking turns.. Easy peasy...no hassle...their is nothing to clean in machine itself just your bottles. Definitely I going to hire for my second baby as its very costly..cant afford it.  Show reply

Gave my little one the best start! – I rented a Medela Symphony after my newborn baby was rushed to the NICU and flown to a bigger hospital suffering a life threatening infection. I'd never had anu success pumping with any of my other 4 children, trying multiple pumps. The Symphony was AMAZING! Comfortable to use and worked incredibly well. I was able to pump more than enough breast… Read more ·  1

milk for my little one over the week that he was unable to feed at all which maintained my supply in those early critical days of supply being established. When my son was well enough to be fed through a nasogastro tube he was able to have breast milk which gave his poor sick body the best start possible! If I had one critique it would be the cost of buying one but with the option to rent it really wasn't a problem.

Complete waste of money – This machine is extremely expensive to hire (approx $40 / week) and there is no value for money. There are excellent hospital grade double pumps on the market that you can purchase to keep for only 200-300$ that are way better than this. This doesn’t remember any of the settings of when you last used it, it is big and bulky, and an absolute pain… Read more

to clean. To top it all off the staff at medela are rude and unhelpful. I regret the money spent hiring it for a few weeks before I knew there was better available and would not bother hiring it again in the future.

Easy to use makes breast pumping a breeze – Product was mobile and does what it was suppose. Low noise machine and can be used while the baby is with you. A very long lasting equipment this has been passed on from myself to my sister and now its with my sister in law. Definitely a worthy investment for new mums

Excellent but recommend hiring – Very comfortable and effective and relatively inexpensive to hire - about $5 per day. Sometimes you don't know how long your milk supply will last so definitely I recommend hirining it. My baby was in special care so this worked really well for home expressing. It's the same that the hospitals use. I think it's really expensive to buy esp… Read more

if you're not sure how long you will use.

Chemists esp those located with hospital have the facility to rent it out.

Very easy to clean - just a wipe down.

Very quiet machine.

I'd definitely use again.

Go straight to the top – I rented one of these units from a local chemist after having my baby and boy was it great. I managed to express so much quicker than with my old Medela swing and also got a lot more milk, I would absolutely recommend renting one of these units over buying a cheaper hand of single pump

Very powerful breast pumps – I used this pump when I was at the hospital and the pump was very powerful to produce ongoing flow of breast milk. This pump can be rented via Medirent and it is recommended to rent it for at least 1 month after giving birth to establish consistent breast milk supply. I highly recommend this breast pump for starters..

Painful – Pros: Quiet operation. Easy to use. Easy to clean and maintain. Disposable parts available. Cons: Not comfortable to use. Gets more painful as intensity is increased. Has to be plugged in while using.

Best of the best! – Buying one of these is really the only option for extended pumping in my opinion. I had used othe systems in the past but the systems weren't closed and were potentially prone to mould issues plus they took far too long. This is an efficient, closed system that gets the job done with minimum fuss. I used this for eight months with no problems. Well worth the price tag and retains value for resale when you're done.

amazing – this was so easy to use being a first time mum this machine was the best I used. I found this very helpful when I was learning to express and then when I thought we had supply issues. it was amazing for us I hope when we have more kiddies this will still be available. love medela

Easy to use – Used it at the hospital and at home. It is really easy to use and doesn't hurt at all. It did not help my milk to come in though. The other downside is that there are lots of parts (about 10-12) to clean and sterilise all the time which makes it really time consuming.

The BEST hospital grade breast pump – I used this at the hospital as they use Medela pumps. It is a double pump which is really quick & easy to use, just connect up and press the on button. You can hire this pump for short or long time. Very impressed and will use again with my next child.

Fantastic, hospital grade pump – If you're a frequent pumper, get or hire this pump. It was recommended by my hospital when I gave birth 5 weeks prematurely, and helped my milk come in within just a week so I could then exclusively breastfeed my son. Very happy with this product and recommend it highly.

Excellent pump – This is a great pump very comfortable to use. You can adjust the suction easily. It is fast and efficient to use very quiet and easy to clean. It makes pumping quick and easy. It isn't light though so if you are looking for something portable this probably isn't the pump for you.

Awesome! – I used for the first time I've used a breast pump when I had twins at King Edward hospital in perth, and this product is fantastic! The suction is fantastic, you can also adjust the suction & speed settings from low to high (slow -fast), the cups also were a great fit for all side breast. It's compact size can for easily into a hand bag, all… Read more

though it does have a little weight so a nappy bag will be perfect aswell, it is easy to clean, they are disposable cups and line (tubes) where the milk flows through. I would highly recommend this for any experience with breast pumps.

Great time saving if you express a lot – My wife has had two babies. We hired this the second time around. First time around we struggled through with the Swing, which is effective enough however too slow for regular expressing. The symphony has a good adjustable strong suction, comfortable an easy to clean. Consider how long you need to express for, 2 months for us and to hire the… Read more

symphony costs about as much as buying a Medela Swing. Time saving however for nightly expressing, easy choice in our case. It uses a type of membrane as part of the suction process, which i assume is meant to mimic natural sucking. Missus seemed happy enough with it.

However, on the other hand, the Swing is battery operated and small enough to be portable, handy if you need to travel and express.

Steer clear! – Average pump with bad quality parts that always gets faulty customer service is shocking beyond belief. Seriously do yourself a favour and STEER CLEAR of this overpriced crap.regret ever having used it and dealing with those people at the company. I can't say it enough to stay away and steer clear!

Terrible overpriced bad customer service – I don't usually leave reviews but I feel new mums have the right to know. I rented the medela symphony at the pharmacy below the hospital I gave birth in, and purchased the double pump set. Within 2 weeks, the double pump set malfunctioned and I was left without a working pump. When I tried to take it back I was told that medela don't have to… Read more

follow the laws set out on the consumer affairs website as they "have their own laws". Long story short, medela has the WORST customer service I have ever experienced! I had a two week old baby who relied on me pumping for food they made it absolutely impossible for me. Not what you want to be dealing with straight out of hospital. They were rude and unhelpful, ignoring calls and emails. Avoid avoid avoid!!

The best advice I can give is to buy the Spectra S2. I ordered it after my medela broke, had it delivered to my door virtually overnight and it works even better than the symphony which I was paying $40 a week to rent! Buying it outright works out much cheaper than renting the symphony after a month or two and you get to keep it forever. Don't take my word for it- check out all the other reviews of the S2.

Amazing – Have been using this pump for 8 months to exclusively express! It is the only pump that works for me! (Also have spectra s2 and portable 9 (spectra)) I just wish it had a timer :) It's gentle and effective.... love it! My bank balance doesn't but it's worth every cent

Good – When in a moment of distress regarding milk supply, this device came to the rescue and did what it was supposed to do. I was so impressed with Medela, that I gave away my Avent pump and purchased the Medela Freestyle - the 2 phase is very good! Hiring the symphony is well worth the investment if you're keen to provide breastmilk to your bub. Shop… Read more

around for hiring costs - I found the local chemists were very expensive. Super quiet and efficient. It helped me increase my supply. Althought that being said, I purchased the Medela Freestyle and my output is even better)

I also like that you can double pump, so makes it less time pumping and more time playing with baby! Purchase of the symphony is not not geared for the average consumer. It's meant for hospital/rental. If you're ABA member, the hire is 1/2 price.

Also be prepared the one off cost of purchasing the milk collection kit (about $70)

The unit is also very bulky, so where you install it, it'll likely live in that place.(That's where the Freestyle is nice in its portability)

Good – Overall, quick and efficent and easy to use. Supported by many maternity hospitals meaning that I could pump at home and in the hospital while visiting NICU without needing to purchase additional equipment. Easy to clean. Quick and simple. About to double pump, thereby decreasing the time to express. I have given birth to 2 premature babies so I… Read more

expressed exclusivly for several weeks so it was really important for me to be able to express quickly and effectivly. Expensive. Pump sets also expensive. Large bulky machine, not great for taking out and about. Needed manual pump to assist with that. As I exclusivly expressed, my nipples quickly become sore with using this several times a day.

Easy to use! – My first baby was born 4 weeks early & spent almost 3 weeks in the Special Care Nursery. The hospital had two of these pumps in the nursery for the mothers to use. It is really easy to use & the 2 phase stimulation/expression is fantastic to getting that milk going! Rental is a bit on the dear side, but when you consider how much this machine is… Read more

actually worth (close to $4000) it does seem reasonable. I'm still tossing up as to whether to buy the freestyle or the swing..... depends what baby's needs are I suppose. So easy to use! Being my first baby, I was a bit freaked out at the thought of anything :-P I was really happy with the 2 phase stimulation/expression feature. Got my let down going so easily. Using the machine is so comfortable! Rental can be a bit steep, but the machine is worth quite a lot. So I suppose you do have to remember that! It is obviously not portable, but seriously it wasn't made to be taken anywhere :-P

Excellent – Very happy with this pump as I used it in hospital after my daughter was born and continued to use it once at home hired from a chemist for $40 for 2 weeks. However, unless you plan to use it long term it is too expensive to buy to use just for a few weeks. Great unit. Easy to use. Effective at expressing milk. Can express both breasts at the same… Read more

time, effectively halving the time it takes using a single pump. Price. Too expensive to buy for home use. For the ongoing cost of hiring the unit you might as well buy a cheaper unit to keep.

Good – I loved this machine and wished I could take it home with me. Can't justify the cost though. Renting might be a better option, just depends on your budget. This is great. Electric not hand powered and you can adjust the intensity. It also has two modes to simulate the baby's sucking, a faster mode to aid in the let down and a slower mode for the… Read more

real feeding. It also has a timer so that if you haven't had a let down in the first 5 minutes it will automatically switch over to the slower mode. You can switch back and forwards at any time. This is really expensive.

Excellent – This machine helped me decide to purchase a smaller version electric pump. It's ease of use was fantastic for increasing supply which I could then freeze in case I was sick or unable to breastfeed. The two phases with variable speed was excellent- I used a smaller version which did not have the two phases & this was far more effective for 'let… Read more

down'. The external pieces that you buy are interchangable between Medela models. Hired one thru the ABA - still quite expensive but with membership it is half price.

Not very portable.

Good – I am grateful there is a product like this available as it is nice to be able to express and not take forever. I was told in hospital to just use for 10 mins and when you are doing this each feed this is how long you need it to take. It was easy to hook up and turn on and everything was easy to wash/keep clean. I think if they were cheaper they… Read more

couldn't keep up with demand! Quick and easy, never had any trouble figuring it out even when I was half asleep! Cost way too much, I hired one for 6 weeks and even that cost a fortune

Excellent – In the early days I couldn't have lived without this pump. I really was a lifesaver back then. Now that my supply has settled I don't find that I need an electric pump anymore. I rented this one from the hospital and it was great for those early days. I had an oversupply of milk and this breast pump made it quick and easy to express at all hours… Read more

of the day and night. It's not too noisy. It comes with different sizes of handsets for differently sized breasts. It's big and bulky, you wouldn't be able to take it to work with you.