Manual or electric breast pump: the choice mainly depends on how often you will be expressing milk. For the occasional bottle, a manual breast pump is often enough. If you need to express several times a day for weeks on end, a double electric breast pump, often hired from a pharmacy on prescription, takes less effort and does a better job of keeping your milk supply going.
Before buying anything, one simple question helps you decide: how many sessions a day, and for how long? This guide covers the most common situations, the criteria that really matter and the rules for storing expressed milk.
Manual or electric breast pump: what is the real difference?
Both do the same job: they create rhythmic suction on the breast to collect milk. What changes is the power source, how steady the rhythm is and how much time it takes.
The manual breast pump
You work a handle or a bulb yourself. The pump is light, quiet, needs no battery and costs little. It slips into a bag and is quick to clean.
Its limit is the effort involved. A session takes time and tires your hand when you do it often. Naître et grandir, a Quebec parenting organisation, recommends it only for occasional use in a guide reviewed by an IBCLC lactation consultant.
The electric breast pump
A motor mimics your baby’s feeding rhythm. Most models offer a fast stimulation phase followed by a slower expression phase. France’s Haute Autorité de santé (the national health authority) describes these two phases in its January 2019 assessment of electric breast pumps.
There is single pumping, one breast at a time, and double pumping, both breasts at once. According to Naître et grandir, a session lasts 15 to 20 minutes on average with a double pump.
Which breast pump for your situation?
The right pump is the one that matches how you will actually use it, not how you imagined using it before the birth. Here are the most common cases.
- The odd bottle now and then: an evening out, an appointment, engorgement to relieve. A manual breast pump, or even hand expressing, will do.
- Going back to work: two or three sessions a day, five days a week. A double electric pump saves you precious time.
- A premature or hospitalised baby: you need to establish and maintain your milk supply without effective feeds at the breast. The care team will usually offer a more powerful hospital-grade rental pump.
- Exclusive pumping: you feed your baby on expressed milk only. Naître et grandir recommends around eight sessions a day, including at night, with double pumping.
- A temporary difficulty: a baby who isn’t latching well, cracked nipples, weight loss to keep an eye on. It is best to talk to a midwife first before choosing.
If in doubt, hiring an electric pump for a few weeks first lets you see whether pumping becomes part of your routine. You can always buy one afterwards, knowing what you need.
Should you buy or hire your breast pump?
In France, hiring an electric breast pump is partly reimbursed by the Assurance Maladie (French national health insurance), on prescription. Buying a manual breast pump, on the other hand, is at your own expense.
What the Assurance Maladie covers
In an answer published on its forum on 26 August 2024, the Assurance Maladie sets out the rules. The first prescription must come from a doctor or a midwife. It is written on a separate prescription and limited to ten weeks.
Each renewal covers a maximum of three months. Reimbursement is 100 % during the period covered by maternity insurance, then 60 % afterwards. Your top-up health insurance may cover some or all of the rest.
These durations follow the 2019 opinion of the Haute Autorité de santé. In it, the committee justified the initial ten weeks by the need for regular breastfeeding support.
What hiring means in practice
The motor is on loan, but the pumping kit is personal: breast shields, valves, tubing and bottles. It is supplied separately and is also covered. Ask the pharmacist to check the size of the breast shields when you collect it.
The criteria that really matter
Product pages are full of promises. Yet four points make most of the difference day to day.
Breast shield size
This is the most often overlooked criterion. A breast shield that is too small or too large causes pain and makes pumping less effective, as Naître et grandir points out. Your nipple should move freely in the tunnel without rubbing.
Suction settings
Pumping should not hurt. A good pump lets you adjust strength and rhythm separately. Start low, then increase to a comfortable level, never beyond.
Noise and battery life
If you pump at the office or at night, noise level matters. A built-in battery saves you hunting for a socket. With a manual pump, these questions don’t arise.
Number of parts to wash
Every extra part adds to the day’s washing-up. A model that is easy to take apart is quicker to clean, which matters when you pump several times a day.
Expressing milk: simple habits that make sessions easier
Even the best pump yields little milk if the session is tense. A few simple habits make a big difference.
- Wash your hands, then settle somewhere calm with your back supported.
- Gently massage your breast for a few moments before you start.
- Looking at a photo of your baby or smelling one of their clothes can help the let-down reflex.
- Pump at fairly regular times, especially if you are exclusively pumping.
- Stop if it starts to hurt, and check the breast shield and the settings.
The French public website 1000 premiers jours (“the first 1,000 days”) also describes hand expressing: fingers in a C shape around the areola, two or three centimetres from the nipple, then gentle, rhythmic pressure. It remains useful in the first few days.
How long does expressed milk keep?
According to the public website 1000 premiers jours, breast milk keeps for 4 hours at room temperature, between 20 and 25 °C. It keeps for 48 hours in the fridge at 4 °C and 4 months in the freezer at −18 °C.
The same site recommends freezing milk straight after expressing it, without putting it in the fridge first. Thaw it slowly in the fridge, for at least six hours, or in a bain-marie. Never refreeze thawed milk and don’t use the microwave.
Write the date on each container. The Quebec storage times quoted by some websites are longer: in France, the guidelines above are the ones that apply.
Looking after your breast pump: what you need to know
After each session, rinse the parts that touch the milk in cold water, then wash them in hot soapy water. Leave them to air-dry on a clean cloth.
The question of sterilising comes up just as it does for bottles. Our article on sterilising baby bottles looks at what the guidelines say. The motor itself should not be washed: a damp cloth is enough.
Making pumping work day to day
Expressing milk takes time and organisation. Many mothers experience it as a constraint, others as a freedom. Both feelings are valid.
When you return to work, the French Labour Code (Code du travail) provides for dedicated time during your child’s first year. The details are in our article on breastfeeding at work. For feeds at home, a nursing pillow can ease your back and arms.
If expressed milk is given by bottle, the teat flow rate matters too. A flow that is too fast can make going back to the breast harder. Our guide to bottle teat flow rates helps you choose.
Finally, if you are worried about how much milk you have, regular weigh-ins with a health professional are often more reassuring than a breast pump. We explain when baby scales are really useful. For official benchmarks, see also the data on breastfeeding in France.
Key takeaways
- Occasional use: a manual breast pump or hand expressing is enough.
- Daily, long-term use: a double electric pump, ideally hired on prescription.
- Hire reimbursed on prescription: ten weeks to start with, renewable in three-month periods.
- Breast shield size matters more than the brand.
- Expressed milk: 4 hours at room temperature, 48 hours in the fridge, 4 months in the freezer.
Got a question about our products? Our FAQ answers the most common ones.
Sources
- Haute Autorité de santé, CNEDiMTS, opinion on electric breast pumps, 15 January 2019.
- Assurance Maladie, policyholders’ forum, official answer on breast pump hire, 26 August 2024.
- 1000 premiers jours (website of the French ministry of health), “Tirer son lait”, accessed 4 October 2026.
- Naître et grandir, “Tirer son lait : guide pratique”, scientific review by an IBCLC consultant, updated December 2023.
