A closer look at the Genie Plus

You've heard about the Genie Plus, which is great, but if you're like most new parents figuring out breast pumps then you still have questions. We've put together this article so that we can take you step by step through the features of the Genie Plus. We worked hard to make the Genie Plus the best portable breast pump on the market, so if we missed out on explaining anything, just let us know. 

Portable and lightweight, with a rechargeable battery

So first of all we wanted to make the Genie Plus as portable as possible, while still keeping the noise level minimal (and the price reasonable!). 

We got the weight down to 220 grams, and the size is small enough to fit in your hand.

Also essential for portability is the Genie’s rechargeable battery. The Genie holds up to 2.5 hours of pumping time on each charge, so most mamas will get a full day of pumping on the go without having to worry about finding an electrical outlet or running out of charge.

Your Genie comes with a charger that you can use any country, so wherever you are in the world, don’t worry, the Genie will work for you.

Quiet as a kitten

If you’ve used a breast pump before, you’ll know many of them have a very distinctive ‘Brr Brr’ noise.

It’s quite hard keeping the noise down in a portable pump - there just isn’t much room to soundproof! We’ve worked really hard to keep the noise down - you will have no problem using your Genie Plus near your baby, while watching Netflix or in the office without feeling like people are wondering where that sound is coming from!

Three breastshield sizes in the box

Your breastshield needs to be the right size to fit around your nipple so that pumping is comfortable and you get good milk output. Too large and your areola will bunch up into the shield (painful) and too small and your nipple may become blistered (painful). The right fit is important! Unfortunately getting the right fit can be kinda trial and error. 

Read how to measure your shield size here

We included three breastshield sizes in the box (21mm, 24mm and 27mm) so you can experiment and get the right fit. And if you need another size, we have sizes from 15mm to 30mm available separately on our site.

Yes, it’s a double pump

The Genie Plus is a double pump (you can pump from both breasts at once) and it comes with absolutely everything you need for double pumping. Pumping both breasts at once will save you lots of time, which is essential as a new mama, and has been proven to be more effective at raising prolactin levels and supporting milk supply.

If you want to pump from just one side - no problem. You can close up the Genie’s second air port and just pump from one side, or pump from one side and feed baby from the other. 

Intelligent memory

Your Genie Plus is highly adjustable, with a letdown mode that mimics the light, fluttering suction a baby uses to start milk flow, and an expression mode that is deeper and stronger to draw milk down. Each mode is adjustable, so you can find the suction level that suits you best. Once you figure out what works for you, you can save time and make life easy by saving your optimal program to the Genie’s inbuilt memory. This will make life easier for you in future pump sessions. 

Closed system

A big challenge in a breast pump system is ensuring that as the pump suctions and pulls milk from your breast, that it does not also pull that milk down into the pump motor. Milk in the pump motor will result in mould growth that you can not clean (or even see!) and is a hygiene risk. Pumpables pumps are ‘closed system’ meaning that there is a physical barrier that stops milk getting anywhere near your pump motor. 

This is called ‘backflow protection’ and in the Genie Plus you can see it in this UFO shaped looking thing called a ‘backflow protector’. The diaphragm inside the backflow protector stops milk getting into tubing and makes sure it goes down into the bottle, where it belongs.

10 suction levels

As well as being able to swap between letdown mode to start milk flow and expression mode to draw out milk, you can adjust your Genie Plus between different suction levels so that you can find the best combination of suction and comfort for you. You can adjust cycle speed between 3 levels on every suction level.

In a portable pump like the Genie Plus, there’s a limited capability to adjust speed as suction increases. This is because motors in portable pumps just aren’t big enough to pump fast when suction is high. We worked hard to give you the option to adjust cycle speed just a little on each suction level - a first in a portable pump. It’s important that you have this kind of flexibility when using your breast pump, as every woman is different and responds to different settings. (For maximum flexibility, always use a hospital grade pump, like our new SuperGenie hospital grade pump launching in October).

Using the Pump2Bag clips with your Genie Plus

Right now we’re including some bonus gifts with every Genie Plus.  Our Pump2Bag clips are a set of secure, sturdy clips that attach to your breastshield and will allow you to clip breastmilk storage bags directly to your Genie Plus.

This means you can pump straight into breastmilk storage bags and avoid wasting milk when you’re transferring milk to freeze. To get you started, we also include a box of free breastmilk storage bags, but you can use any compatible milk storage bags. 

Compatibility

We wanted the Genie Plus to be as compatible with as many other of the parts & bottles that you already have as possible. You can use other brands of closed system breastshields like Spectra, Freemie and Youha with the Genie. You can any bottles that have a standard wide neck like Spectra and you can use narrow neck bottles like Medela’s if you use a neck adaptor (sold separately). 

Not only that, but we have a range of new shield options coming out soon, so if you need more options, you’re in good hands. 

How we manage warranty

We take warranty issues very seriously as we know that having your breast pump play up is going to cause anxiety. If you have a problem, get in touch. We’re rolling out service centres, but for now if you have a problem that we can’t resolve by troubleshooting, we’ll send a replacement. We’ll also arrange to get your faulty pump back so we can do a full analysis on what went wrong.

We hope that reading this through will give you all the information you need to get you further along the way towards your decision about which breast pump to buy. If we missed anything out, or if you want to check into whether the Genie Plus is right for you, just message us. We’re always happy to talk and we’ll make sure you get all the information you need.