There are a few minimal bodily controls on the Willow itself: an influence button, a mode button, and a plus and minus button to vary the suction stage. You all the time flip the pump on manually to begin a session, however you may want the Willow Go app useful to see see what mode or stage you are utilizing (you possibly can sense a distinction in these, and the Willow all the time begins on the bottom stage) and the way lengthy you’ve got been pumping.
The Willow Go has two pumping modes: a stimulation mode and an expression mode. Each have just a few ranges of suction and rhythm to select from within the app. The Willow Go will begin out in stimulation mode for 2 minutes earlier than switching to expression, to attempt to replicate how a child begins feeding and activate let down. You may manually swap modes on the highest of the Willow and inside the app, and alter across the depth, too, to search out the perfect setting. Both sides is managed individually, and also you’ll see a timer within the app to point out your total pumping time for every pump (however not how lengthy you spent in every mode). It guarantees hospital-grade suction just like the traditional Medela Pump in Fashion Superior, and I pumped the identical variety of ounces that I’d with my Spectra S1.
I attempted the Willow Go together with each a sports activities nursing bra and considered one of Willow’s personal pumping bras. Each have full protection and a hook to permit the bra to come back all the way in which down after which safe round each the pump and breast, which is what it’s best to search for in any bra you utilize with a wearable pump. It match nicely in each bras and was comfy sufficient to put on, but it surely actually wasn’t discreet.
Elements Celebration
Both sides of the Willow Go has six components: a container bowl, a duckbill valve, a diaphragm, a flange, a container again, and the pump itself that sits in the course of all these components. Whole with two pumps, that’s 12 items for the pump. The Willow additionally comes with two USB-An influence cords to cost every pump, however no energy adapter.
All these components, plus stuffing it into your bra, make it exhausting to get a visible of how a lot you’re pumping. Should you’re attempting to examine your progress or work out whether or not you’ve wrung each ounce of liquid out of your physique, you must do some head angling to see if something continues to be popping out of the duckbill valve. It’s really useful to pump for round quarter-hour, however it’s best to have the ability to work out after just a few makes use of how lengthy a pump session your physique wants.
When you don’t wash the middle pump, you do wash the opposite 10 components. That’s no small quantity, however the Spectra S1 has an analogous variety of washable components. However I favor washing the Willow Go’s items. They’re bigger, making them simpler to deal with and simpler to air or hand dry versus a few of the smaller breast pump components that I’m always afraid I’ll drop down the sink drain. I particularly love that the container bowl pops all the way in which off for me to scrub, moderately than scrubbing yet one more child bottle. These components are all dishwasher secure, too.