Spectra is an industry leader in breast pumps and if you have the option to getting a Spectra breast pump, whether it is through insurance or private pay, it is a great investment. These pumps are high quality, offer high output, exceptional warranty service and offer a wide variety of accessories to make your pumping life easier.
One of the best things you can do when you get your breast pump is to familliarize yourself with the control panel. The one pictured below is for the Spectra S1, but the only difference between the control panel on the blue Spectra S1 and the pink Spectra S2 is that on the S2 you will not see the battery life indicator in the top right section of the LED display since the S1 offers a rechargeable battery whereas the S2 is powered only by electricity. The green S3 Pro intented for hospitals, clinics or corporate lactation offers the same control panel as well.
Of course, you will want to start with the on button located in the middle bottom of the panel. After that, I will take you from left to right explaining the function and features of each button. On the far left is your cycle control with plus and minus buttons to go up or down in speed. The speed in the breast pump industry is often referred to as CPM (cycles per minute). The Spectra S1 and S2 have 5 speed levels. Level one will be 38pm and level 5 will be 54 cpm. The average baby does about 48 sucks per minute when they are in an effective nursing rhythm. In addition, babies nurse at a faster speed of about 70 sucks per minute when they are initiating a let-down which bring us to the top middle button that looks like it is a wave or as I like to refer to it as a white river. This is the massage mode which automatically sets your pump to 70 cpm to help initiate let-down. This button should be turned on after you are sure your flanges are centered on the nipples at the beginning of the pumping and used again anytime the milk slows and you would like to initiate another let-down. Press the button again to go back to expression mode. This is the best course of use rather than using the massage mode all the time. You will want to simulate a typical nursing experience with your breast pump as a baby will not sustain 70 cpm the entire nursing and you want the massage mode to be effective when you choose to use it.
To the right of the massage buttom, you will find the plus and minus buttons to use for vacuum. The strength of vacuum is measure in millimeters of mercury which you will see written as mmHg. There are 12 levels of vacuum pressure for the Spectra S1 and S2 breast pump in expression mode ranging from 50 mmHg to 270 mmHg. In massage or let-down mode, there are 5 ranging from 50 mmHg to 200mmHg.
As an additional feature, there is a light button on the control panel for night pumping. This button has two settings which when pushed once is on high and when pushed a second time, it is a lower light setting.
As a side note, the front of the pump has two ports where the tubing is to be attached, but if you would like to empty on breast, the Spectra air cap port cover which is also connected there can be used to close off one port for single pumping.
Get ready for pumping success by getting to know your Spectra breast pump! Make sure to sterilize your breast shields, valves, and bottles; the tubing and backflow protectors are for air and backflow protection so do not come into contact with the breastmilk and do not need to be sterilized.
Plan for your breast pump maintenance by having in stock replacement valves and backflow protectors. These two parts affect your breast pump suction so if you want to get accurate vacuum and effective milk extraction, take care of your breast pump parts.
Pro Pumping Tip: Don't use bristle bottle brushes as these can scratch, damage and harbor yeast. Instead use a silicone bottle brush when cleaning these parts.
Expressly yours,
Tanya
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