Playtex Embrace Double Electric Breast Pump: Comfortable, efficient and a great price

by CBB guest reviewer Rachael

I have been using the Playtex Embrace Breast Pump System for the past few weeks and I like it a lot. Like everything in the world it has its pluses and minuses.  The most important plus is that it works well and is comfortable. The biggest minus for me is that it can be a little on the loud side when the speed and the suction are turned up. I am back at work full time. I do not have a very private place to pump so that is why the noise level is a minus for me.  I also have a Medela Pump in Style a friend gave me so I’ve been able to compare the two. [Note: It is not recommended that you share breast pumps because of bacteria contamination, even if you get new tubes and accessories. Playtex says the Embrace has a closed system which prevents milk from entering the tubing or pumps.]

Click Continue Reading for the review.

The Embrace black microfiber tote bag is roomy, has tons of storage space inside plus three smaller individual bags which helpfully include tags that say ‘a,’ ‘b,’ and ‘c.’ You can organize the pump, breastshields, pump accessories, pumped milk, inside of the bags, and there’s even room for reading materials.

The Embrace comes with lots of accessories including an insulated bag with cooling pack. It also comes with two 4-oz drop in bottles with some liners and two 4-oz regular bottles (thought there are no nipples included). There is another pouch that has other accessories including replacement valves for the cups and extra liner and nipple rings. It also comes with a car adapter as well as the AC/DC adapter, but I haven’t yet met anyone who has pumped in their car. It’s nice to have just in case though. [Note: Some women pump in their car because they can't pump at work or because they are more comfortable in their car.]  Almost all of the accessories are interchangeable with their other pumps, which include the Petite Double Electric Breast Pump and the Manual Breast Pump.

The pump speed and suction is controlled with a key pad so you can customize to your own rhythm. Pumping is really fast. I’m done before I know it.  The Soft Comfort® massaging breastshields, which use both massage and suction to express the milk, have a soft air cushion that minimizes tugging and stretching of nipples and are comfortable. However, they are more involved to clean. They need to be washed in soapy water (or in the dishwasher), and it seems to take longer to dry. That is okay if you are doing one or two single pumping sessions a day, but if you do more than that you may want to invest in a second set of breastshields. In comparison, Medela’s breastshields are easier to clean. You just rinse them off, put them in a special bag and put them in the microwave with water for a few minutes. You put them on a drying rack and they dry quickly.

I found that it is not easy to just pump one breast at a time. The tubes have a plug that you use to pump single. I can not get the plug to work for me. It keeps coming out. I found a work around by using a binder clip on it. I double pumped once and it worked very well. I just find it a bit hard to do a double pump because I don’t have one of those bras that hold the breastshields.  You can watch a demonstration of the pump on the Playtex website.

I do like being able to pump into the Drop-ins liners, however. You can also pump into any Playtex bottles, both wide and narrow, and and most standard reusable bottles (including Medela).

When picking a pump you need to decide what features are important to you. I would recommend the Embrace if the sound is not an issue or if you are going to use the low levels.  It is comfortable and fast. The price may be one of its best features- at a retail price of $250, it is one of the least expensive double electric breast pumps available- especially if you consider it can be found for as low as $170.