Breast pumping during Zoom meetings?
August 8, 2021 9:34 PM Subscribe
Is there a breast pump that fits under a baggy shirt and is quiet enough to pump during zoom meetings? Freemie? Willow? Something else?
I guess you would already be doing this if it was an option, but can you turn off your camera/mute unless you’re actually talking?
Do you have a hand pump? Those might be quieter, although they never worked for me with my low supply.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:05 AM on August 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Do you have a hand pump? Those might be quieter, although they never worked for me with my low supply.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:05 AM on August 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I used the Freemie and it was quieter than my Spectra pump, though certainly not silent.
posted by coppermoss at 5:52 AM on August 9, 2021
posted by coppermoss at 5:52 AM on August 9, 2021
I know this isn't precisely an answer, but I have a fair amount of background noise on my calls (cars, nearby construction, etc) and I run an app called Krisp that uses some Fancy AI Magic to just totally swallow all the non-talking sounds. It picks out which parts of my audio stream are me talking, and which are nearby mechanical sounds, and people I ask tell me they have no idea what idling truck I'm talking about. I would think it'd work well for pump sounds too.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:41 AM on August 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:41 AM on August 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
I worked at a baby tech company for a bit and the majority of moms there swore by the willow pumps. Can attest that I never heard them on zoom.
posted by coldbabyshrimp at 7:29 AM on August 9, 2021
posted by coldbabyshrimp at 7:29 AM on August 9, 2021
Also! A reminder that your employer is usually required by law to give you time and privacy to pump. If it works for you during meetings, that's great, but it's your right to take time away from work to do it.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:31 AM on August 9, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:31 AM on August 9, 2021 [12 favorites]
NVIDIA Broadcast will filter out background noises from Microphones. Didn't have a pump to test it with, but it filtered out my fans with no problems.
posted by kschang at 7:46 AM on August 9, 2021
posted by kschang at 7:46 AM on August 9, 2021
Freemie cups + Spectra pump and never had any complaints. I used a headset instead of my computer's mic, though, which I imagine cut down on a lot of the ambient noise.
posted by anderjen at 11:18 AM on August 9, 2021
posted by anderjen at 11:18 AM on August 9, 2021
I used willow a couple years ago, it was reasonably quiet and if you had a close zoom on your face probably no one would notice it but it is bulky enough that it would look slightly weird if you had a full waist-up view even with a bulky shirt. Not as good a pump as most normal electric pumps tho, but I did use it on airplanes a few times and was glad for the convenience.
posted by ch1x0r at 7:11 PM on August 9, 2021
posted by ch1x0r at 7:11 PM on August 9, 2021
I used a Willow pump for about a year. It made pumping possible for me ( I frequently pumped while working, which for me is evaluating patients, delivering babies, and doing surgery). I wouldn't call it subtle, although I imagine it would be more so over Zoom. PM me if you have specific questions.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 10:27 AM on August 10, 2021
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 10:27 AM on August 10, 2021
Response by poster: For anyone who comes along later, a Freemie works pretty well for this.
It's quite quiet - I've had convos with several people while wearing it in my staff lunchroom, and they didn't notice the sound til I pointed it out. It has hard plastic cups that fit under a shirt, which gives you torpedo boobs, but a baggy jacket, big scarf, or good angles (ie, facing the camera on zoom) can easily minimize the detectability - you really only notice the cups from the side because they stick out so far. (And they just started selling slimmer-profile cups, too.) The pump part is small, light, and hangs easily off a pants waistband. Suction-wise, it's not as strong as a Medela electric, but it does get a decent amount out and it's really, really great for flexibility and speed.
It's a bit hard to keep the inside of the cups sterile, since in order to assemble it, you have to touch parts that will touch milk. I assemble the night before when I have very clean hands, then run it through the steam sterilizer one more time after I assemble it, then pack the cups for work in a clean tupperware.
But once it's assembled, you can keep it assembled (and therefore near sterile) all day - including when you pour out the milk - and just refrigerate the breast cups between uses (in the same tupperware) to keep the leftover milk droplets from spoiling inside the cups.
So it's pretty good for an on-the-go workplace, and definitely great for zoom meetings (just frame the camera high, wear a scarf, and stop the pump when you unmute to speak).
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:00 PM on April 21, 2022
It's quite quiet - I've had convos with several people while wearing it in my staff lunchroom, and they didn't notice the sound til I pointed it out. It has hard plastic cups that fit under a shirt, which gives you torpedo boobs, but a baggy jacket, big scarf, or good angles (ie, facing the camera on zoom) can easily minimize the detectability - you really only notice the cups from the side because they stick out so far. (And they just started selling slimmer-profile cups, too.) The pump part is small, light, and hangs easily off a pants waistband. Suction-wise, it's not as strong as a Medela electric, but it does get a decent amount out and it's really, really great for flexibility and speed.
It's a bit hard to keep the inside of the cups sterile, since in order to assemble it, you have to touch parts that will touch milk. I assemble the night before when I have very clean hands, then run it through the steam sterilizer one more time after I assemble it, then pack the cups for work in a clean tupperware.
But once it's assembled, you can keep it assembled (and therefore near sterile) all day - including when you pour out the milk - and just refrigerate the breast cups between uses (in the same tupperware) to keep the leftover milk droplets from spoiling inside the cups.
So it's pretty good for an on-the-go workplace, and definitely great for zoom meetings (just frame the camera high, wear a scarf, and stop the pump when you unmute to speak).
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:00 PM on April 21, 2022
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posted by freethefeet at 10:04 PM on August 8, 2021