VersaPed - Universal breastpump Pedal
There has been a plethora of breastpumps in the market in the past few years. Shelves in retail stores are choc-a-bloc with a mind-boggling array of models, each aggressively marketing its strong features in quite imaginative ways. Breastfeeding moms never had it so good for them, ever. It is a great feeling to be pampered by such goodies, after all!
In such booming times, it is but natural that third-party accessories for such breastpumps are thought up, by enterprising businesspersons. The ingenuity of such products is to be seen to be believed. One such product in this genre is the versatile breastpump pedal, marketed under the brand name of "Versaped". This is a patented device from the house of Tucson, Arizona-based Breastpump.com.
The Versaped is a pedal that can fit in with any electric breastpump. Though projected as a travel accessory, there is no reason why even stay-at-home moms cannot find it useful. The simple, but brilliant concept that this accessory is based upon, is that every table-top breastpump, howsoever unique their other features might be, follow the same principle when it comes to their milk-collection mechanism. All the electric breastpumps have a flange and tubing system, most of which also have incorporate their own proprietary methods of preventing the backflow of breastmilk from accidentally running through the tubing and damaging the electric circuitry. A few flange and tubing sets also contain finger-tap vent holes, which the mother can use to control the rhythm of suction. The beauty of the VersaPed is that it can work with any of these flange-and-tubing combinations.
The pedal comes pre-assembled with bellows, elbows and rubber feet, tubings and various types of connectors. The mother simply plugs the flange and tubing set of any of the table-top electric breastpumps available in the market, into one or both bellows present on the underside of the pedal. As the bellows expands, suction is produced. As the bellows contracts, milk gets collected into the container. The mother has the option of single pumping or double pumping in a simultaneous rhythm using only one bellows. She can also double pump in an alternating rhythm using both the bellows.
VersaPed has been proven to work with some of the most sophisticated flange and tubing sets offered by top- notch electric breastpump manufacturers in the market today. Whittlestone, Bailey Medical's Nurture III, Ameda's Purely Yours, Medela, Camp Health Care, to name a few, are all companies whose products have been found to be quite compatible with the pedal. Mothers who may be having devices purchased from companies that are no longer in the table-top electric breastpump business, such as Evenflo, The First Years and Gerber, too will find the VersaPed of immense use to them. The only competitors that VersaPed seems to have in the market today are Medela and RC2 Corporation's First Years. Both these companies sell their versions of the foot pedal along with one of their own models.
Being a mechanical device, not much care is required for its maintenance. The tubings that connect to the bellows may get moist with use, and simply be hung to dry.
Mothers will find this ingenuous equipment quite useful, especially when there are no electric outlets around. No wonder mothers of earlier generations envy the present crop!