Another great addition to the Spectra Baby lineup. Don’t be fooled by the P1’s pretty appearance, it packs quite a punch. Like the Spectra DEW 350, this little pump has an adjustable knob so you can set suction strength to suit, but it also has a digital adjustment for cycle length. Now for many women, this is really important. Cycle length is the rate or speed that the pump goes through it’s suction/release cycle – a baby will often have a very quick suck when she starts feeding which stimulates letdown, and then long, drawnout sucks for feeding.
What is interesting is that we have found that many women will respond to a specific cycle length, when they simply haven’t been able to get any milk flowing on other settings. It is important, and you should always play around with cycle length on your breast pump so that you can find the speed that is best for you.
Adjustable Vaccum Strength & Cycle length
Back to the P1 – if you take a look at the image to the right, you can see that you can adjust the cycle length digitally, as well as being able to adjust the vaccuum strength by turning the pink dial. This should allow you to personalise the pump to the setting that is most effective for you. It is worth really experimenting with these adjustments – for some women, it won’t make much difference, but for others it will be difference between a frustrating pumping session and success.
Inbuilt rechargeable battery
Like the Spectra 9, the P1 has an inbult rechargeable battery on board. This is such a great feature for women, and it means you can express in the car, or in bed, or at work or wherever is convenient and don’t need to be set up at a power point somewhere or need to buy new batteries all the time. Great!
Backflow protection
Always check this for any pump you consider purchasing. Some pumps have an ‘open’ system, which means there’s nothing to prevent milk backflowing down the tubing and entering the motor. This is a hygiene risk for mould & transmission of viruses, and can also impair functioning of the motor. The P1 has a great little filter that is easily fitted between breast shield & tubing and will completely prevent any milk particles at all from getting into the tubing.
Double or Single-sided expressing
The Cimilre P1 comes with one milk collection kit as standard, but you can easily add on another breast shield if you wish to express from both side. This is a great way to slash your pumping times, and some women will notice a much better flow of milk when pumping from both sides (though it can be fiddly). If you are trying to work on your milk supply, pumping from both sides is recommended – by pumping from both sides you boost the level of prolactin (the hormone responsible for milk production) more than when pumping from one side only.
Motor life
Now this is where the P1 has an advantage over the Spectra 9 – it does have a motor life of 1,500 hours (vs the Spectra 9’s 800 hours). So this might be something for you to take into consideratiton, when you’re trying to work out which is the pump for you.It also comes with a one year warranty.
This pump is new to the market – so if you buy, give us your feedback and we’ll send you a free box of 5 milk storage bottles!
~ Review for P1 ~
This pump has great features that are easy for the user. The backflow protection is certainly one of the biggest positives as is the rechargeable battery, small size, adjustable speed and strength and ability to double pump. A compact and efficient little machine!