Medela Swing Maxi Breast Pump Review (2023)

Need a new breast pump, and not sure which one you should get? Here’s a complete Medela Swing Maxi breast pump review – how it works, the advantages and disadvantages, and what to consider when making your choice.

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What is the Medela Swing Maxi?

The Medela Swing Maxi is a double electric breast pump that is a good option for pumping at work or for exclusive pumpers.

You can see more of how the Swing Maxi works in the below stories.

What are the pros of the Medela Swing Maxi?

Below are some of the advantages of this breast pump:

• It’s small, compact, and very portable.
• This pump has a rechargeable battery, so you’re not tied to an outlet.
• You can connect the Swing Maxi with the Medela Family app on your phone, and it will automatically track your pumping sessions and allow you to see how long you’ve been pumping, the battery level, and the suction strength.
• The tubing allows you to easily switch between single and double pumping.
• It’s closed system, which prevents milk from getting into the tubing or pump motor.
• The pump parts are the same as the Medela Pump in Style parts, making getting replacements easier (as they are more widely available).
• The pump parts have a separate connector and breast shield, allowing you the option to use alternate breast shields if you want to.

What are the cons of the Medela Swing Maxi?

There are a few disadvantages as well. Most of the things that I don’t love about it have to do with the lack of a display.

• It doesn’t have a timer on the pump itself, so if you want to pump for a certain length of time you have to use the Medela Family app or watch the clock.
• You can’t see the level that you’re currently pumping at (for example, if you like to pump at the same level at all your sessions) without using the Medela Family app.
• There’s no backlight or LED light to allow you to easily use the pump in the dark.
• It’s not especially quiet.
• This pump fits easily in a pocket, but it would be nice if it had a clip or something to make it more portable.

Medela Family app

The Swing Maxi connects via BlueTooth to the Medela Family app.

Using the app, you can see how long you’ve been pumping, the battery charge percentage, and the current suction strength.

(You can’t control the pump using the app – pushing that big red circle with the word Pause on it doesn’t stop the pump, for example.)

You can see your past sessions in the app as well. The time and date of the sessions and length are tracked automatically, and you can manually track the amounts if you’d like.

Here’s what it looks like (obviously, you’d pump longer than one minute at time, I was just playing around with the app):

Swing Maxi pump parts

This pump has three total pump parts – the breast shields, the connector, and the membrane.

A few good things about these pump parts:

• There are fewer pieces than many breast pumps, which means less parts to wash.
• The breast shield and connector are separate pieces, which can make using a hands-free pumping bra easier and allows you to use other options.
• There is a barrier between the connector and the tubing that keeps milk out of the tubing and motor.

What bottles are compatible with this pump?

The Swing Maxi uses standard Medela bottles. If you have Medela bottles from any other pump, they will work with this pump.

Medela bottles are narrow-mouth, and you may be able to screw other narrow-mouth bottles directly onto Medela pumps. (For example, I pumped into Dr. Brown’s bottles sometimes.)

If your baby drinks out of different bottles, see this chart for info on pump/bottle compatibility.

Are there differences between the Swing and other Medela breast pumps?

Yes. Medela makes four double electric breast pumps.

I’ve listed them below in descending order of how “fancy” and pricey they are:

• Sonata – Hospital-grade performance, backlit screen, quiet, has a battery, connects to Medela Family app.
• Freestyle Flex – Small pump that you can wear around your neck lanyard, has a backlit screen, has a battery, and connects with the Medela Family app. Another option is the Freestyle Hands-Free, which uses wearable cups.
• Swing Maxi – Small, portable double electric breast pump with a rechargeable battery and connects with the Medela Family app.
• Pump in Style with Max Flow – The Pump in Style is a basic (but still effective) pump that’s often fully covered by insurance. It doesn’t have a built-in battery or bluetooth functionality.

The Swing Maxi is right in the middle – it’s small, portable, and has connectivity with the Medela app. On the other hand, it doesn’t have a display or backlight on the pump like the Sonata and Freestyle Flex.

What’s the difference between the Swing and the Swing Maxi?

The original Medela Swing is a single electric breast pump, meaning that you’re only able to pump on one side at a time. The Swing Maxi is a double electric pump.

The original Swing also uses different pump parts (breast shield, connector, and valve) than the new Swing Maxi, and it is an open system breast pump.

Medela Swing Maxi review – bottom line

Here’s a poll that I did on Instagram to get a sense of how much people liked it. (Note that this isn’t at all scientific – sometimes, people click just to see the results, but I think it might still be somewhat interesting.)

I think this pump is a good choice for both pumping at work or for exclusive pumpers. It’s effective, portable, and has a lot of good bonus features such as the connectivity to the Medela Family app.

If you live in the United States and have health insurance, you may be able to get one free – fill out this short form to see if you qualify.

Have you used this breast pump? Let us know your Medela Maxi Swing breast pump review in the comments!