The Willow 3.0 in-bra breast pump is designed to help nursing parents carry on with their lives while pumping, and its latest new feature adds an extra level of convenience: a companion app for the Apple Watch. The app lets you change modes, control suction, and track your sessions without having to fiddle with the pump itself or pick up your phone. That doesn’t sound particularly earth-shattering, but in case you weren’t aware, I’ll let you in on a little secret: breast pumping is awful, and anything that makes it a little less awful is a godsend.
The Willow breast pump now has an Apple Watch app to make pumping slightly less terrible
The Willow breast pump now has an Apple Watch app to make pumping slightly less terrible
Throughout much of recent history, using a breast pump meant stopping everything that you’re doing every few hours to sit tethered to a bowling ball-sized contraption plugged into a wall outlet. But within the past few years, in-bra pumps like Willow started popping up — small, self-contained, battery-powered, and designed to be used hands-free. They’re especially handy if you want to, oh, I don’t know, do literally anything outside of your house for longer than three hours without having to run back home and pump.
In-bra pumps come in handy in lots more situations, too, so you can get things done around the house or if your workplace doesn’t provide a private room for pumping. They’re designed for convenience, and having controls on your wrist extends that convenience a little further.
Unfortunately, the technology isn’t exactly accessible to most people. Willow 3.0 starts at $549, and while US health insurers are required to cover the cost of breast pumps for new parents, they’ll usually only cover the full cost of a basic model. Not to mention an Apple Watch starts at $249, which is roughly the same as a three-month supply of diapers. If those kinds of expenses are out of your budget, then you’ll probably be stuck next to a wall outlet for your pumping sessions after all.