Breast pumps

Context Women who use a breast pump (FDA consumer page)

Recipient

Maternal

Population

Women who breastfeed or express breast milk, as the FDA consumer page on breast pumps addresses them.

Care setting

Home, work and travel (the page mentions returning to work and travelling).

Geography

United States (FDA consumer page)

Life stage

The period of lactation after birth

Gestational age

Not reported

Postnatal age

Not reported

Follow-up

Not applicable (consumer information).

• Regulatory Guidance Certainty not assessed

  FDA's consumer page says breast pumps are medical devices regulated by FDA. It says they are often used by breastfeeding women to express their breast milk, and can also be used to maintain or increase milk supply and to relieve engorged breasts and plugged milk ducts. FDA says a pump can be used as a supplement to breastfeeding and that some pumps are designed to mimic the suckling of a nursing baby. The page states that it gives general information and is not intended to provide medical advice.

  Applies to Maternal

  • Women who breastfeed or express breast milk, as the FDA consumer page on breast pumps addresses them.
  • Home, work and travel (the page mentions returning to work and travelling).
  • United States (FDA consumer page)
  • The period of lactation after birth
  • Gestational age Not reported
  • Postnatal age Not reported

  Follow-up Not applicable (consumer information).

  Certainty method

  Not assessed

  Limitations

  The page says its content was current as of 26 March 2018, so it is more than eight years old. Only the landing page was read, not the pages on choosing, buying, using or cleaning a pump, and no FDA clearance record for a particular pump was read. The page does not say which pump types are cleared for which uses.

  Last checked

  2026-10-15

  Next evidence check due

  Not scheduled

  Sources and citations (5)

  1. Supports Breast Pumps (FDA consumer page)

     Regulator · U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Edition FDA consumer page as shown on 2026-10-15; it says content current as of 03/26/2018, so it is more than eight years old. Only the landing page was read, not the sub-pages on choosing, buying or cleaning a pump.

     Locator

     Paragraph 1, sentence 1

     How it applies

     FDA web page.

     Retrieved

     2026-10-15T13:49:54Z

     Source effective date

     2018-03-26

     Source state

     Current

     Snapshot hash

     bdb383531b62377eb380fd6c4ebbbc85a00ae70a78b2a901e377834f33070688

     Reuse basis

     FDA website policies page (fetched as ml-fda-website-policies.html, sha256 55a5b4fce88a043c5ae9dfb1f0ce276b5bd3cef79755ca246907c70272b848a1) says that, unless otherwise noted, the contents of www.fda.gov are not copyrighted, are in the public domain, and may be republished without permission. The bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution.

  2. Supports Breast Pumps (FDA consumer page)

     Regulator · U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Edition FDA consumer page as shown on 2026-10-15; it says content current as of 03/26/2018, so it is more than eight years old. Only the landing page was read, not the sub-pages on choosing, buying or cleaning a pump.

     Locator

     Paragraph 1, sentence 2

     How it applies

     FDA web page.

     Retrieved

     2026-10-15T13:49:54Z

     Source effective date

     2018-03-26

     Source state

     Current

     Snapshot hash

     bdb383531b62377eb380fd6c4ebbbc85a00ae70a78b2a901e377834f33070688

     Reuse basis

     FDA website policies page (fetched as ml-fda-website-policies.html, sha256 55a5b4fce88a043c5ae9dfb1f0ce276b5bd3cef79755ca246907c70272b848a1) says that, unless otherwise noted, the contents of www.fda.gov are not copyrighted, are in the public domain, and may be republished without permission. The bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution.

  3. Supports Breast Pumps (FDA consumer page)

     Regulator · U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Edition FDA consumer page as shown on 2026-10-15; it says content current as of 03/26/2018, so it is more than eight years old. Only the landing page was read, not the sub-pages on choosing, buying or cleaning a pump.

     Locator

     Paragraph 1, sentences 2 and 3

     How it applies

     FDA web page.

     Retrieved

     2026-10-15T13:49:54Z

     Source effective date

     2018-03-26

     Source state

     Current

     Snapshot hash

     bdb383531b62377eb380fd6c4ebbbc85a00ae70a78b2a901e377834f33070688

     Reuse basis

     FDA website policies page (fetched as ml-fda-website-policies.html, sha256 55a5b4fce88a043c5ae9dfb1f0ce276b5bd3cef79755ca246907c70272b848a1) says that, unless otherwise noted, the contents of www.fda.gov are not copyrighted, are in the public domain, and may be republished without permission. The bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution.

  4. Supports Breast Pumps (FDA consumer page)

     Regulator · U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Edition FDA consumer page as shown on 2026-10-15; it says content current as of 03/26/2018, so it is more than eight years old. Only the landing page was read, not the sub-pages on choosing, buying or cleaning a pump.

     Locator

     Paragraph 2, sentence 2

     How it applies

     FDA web page.

     Retrieved

     2026-10-15T13:49:54Z

     Source effective date

     2018-03-26

     Source state

     Current

     Snapshot hash

     bdb383531b62377eb380fd6c4ebbbc85a00ae70a78b2a901e377834f33070688

     Reuse basis

     FDA website policies page (fetched as ml-fda-website-policies.html, sha256 55a5b4fce88a043c5ae9dfb1f0ce276b5bd3cef79755ca246907c70272b848a1) says that, unless otherwise noted, the contents of www.fda.gov are not copyrighted, are in the public domain, and may be republished without permission. The bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution.

  5. Background Breast Pumps (FDA consumer page)

     Regulator · U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Edition FDA consumer page as shown on 2026-10-15; it says content current as of 03/26/2018, so it is more than eight years old. Only the landing page was read, not the sub-pages on choosing, buying or cleaning a pump.

     Locator

     Paragraph 3, sentence 1 (part)

     How it applies

     FDA web page (context for the claim).

     Retrieved

     2026-10-15T13:49:54Z

     Source effective date

     2018-03-26

     Source state

     Current

     Snapshot hash

     bdb383531b62377eb380fd6c4ebbbc85a00ae70a78b2a901e377834f33070688

     Reuse basis

     FDA website policies page (fetched as ml-fda-website-policies.html, sha256 55a5b4fce88a043c5ae9dfb1f0ce276b5bd3cef79755ca246907c70272b848a1) says that, unless otherwise noted, the contents of www.fda.gov are not copyrighted, are in the public domain, and may be republished without permission. The bytes are not committed. Short quotations with attribution.