The invention provides a breast pump system having a belt for wearing by the user of the system. The belt has a pocket for receiving a pump of the system. The pocket has a lateral pocket opening, with a conduit extending from the pump laterally out of the pocket opening. This makes a more comfortable fitting of the pump and easier connection to the expression kit.

A breast pump device and associated methods for extracting breast milk are disclosed. A pump head comprises an external shell with an elastic membrane disposed and bonded therein to define at least one hermetically sealed chamber. Manipulation of the elastic membrane, for example, by adjusting suction or pressure in the sealed chamber or within an interior volume defined by the elastic membrane permits radial mechanical compression (positive pressure) to be applied to a nipple positioned in the pump head to simulate compression of the nipple by the infant's tongue and simultaneously permits axial hydraulic or pneumatic suction (negative pressure) to be applied to the nipple to simulate the infant's minimum intra-oral vacuum. The breast pump device of the present invention can generate these simultaneous compressions and suctions with a single vacuum source, which may be an electric pump or a hand-operated mechanical pump.

A device for applying a product onto skin having a housing which receives the product from a container (12) and receives a gas. The housing has an outlet through which the product and gas are dispensed onto an area of the skin, and a heater configured to heat the gas and/or the product such that the gas and/or product is applied to the skin in a heated state. The product meets the gas adjacent to the outlet where the gas collects the product such that the heated gas and product are projected through the outlet and applied to the skin in a heated state. The housing forms a handheld device to be held by a user and moved across the skin to apply the product.

A position-assisting device for milk expression includes an upright body wedge pillow that defines a back side that has an armrest, a front user-engagement side that is sloped back, lateral sides, and a bottom side. The upright body wedge pillow has an upper head-rest section and an interior cavity that has a front face that opens to the front user-engagement side so as to be able to receive a woman's breasts for milk expression. There are breast pumps located in the interior cavity for milk expression.

A breast pump device (1) comprises an expression kit (2), a vacuum unit (3), and a conduit (5) for establishing an air path between an air outlet (27) of the expression kit (2) and an air inlet (35) of the vacuum unit (3). The expression kit (2) is equipped with a barrier portion (26) for preventing milk leakage from the expression kit (2) towards the hose (5) and the vacuum unit (3). In case some droplets of milk enter the barrier portion (26) and/or drawn through the barrier portion (26) by an ongoing pumping action, aspects of the behavior of the motor (32) for driving the pump (31) are influenced, and the insight that this happens is used for terminating operation of the motor (32) as soon as a too large deviation of one or more operational characteristics of the motor (32) with respect to a reference is found.

A breast pump device (1) comprises an expression kit (2), a vacuum unit (3), and a conduit (5) for establishing an air path between an air outlet (27) of the expression kit (2) and an air inlet (35) of the vacuum unit (3). The expression kit (2) is equipped with a barrier portion (26) for preventing milk leakage from the expression kit (2) towards the hose (5) and the vacuum unit (3). In case some droplets of milk enter the barrier portion (26) and/or drawn through the barrier portion (26) by an ongoing pumping action, aspects of the behavior of the motor (32) for driving the pump (31) are influenced, and the insight that this happens is used for terminating operation of the motor (32) as soon as a too large deviation of one or more operational characteristics of the motor (32) with respect to a reference is found.

A vessel includes an inner container, an outer container, a connector, a cap, and a lid. The outer container includes a first coupler and an outer chamber. The inner container includes a second coupler and an inner chamber to hold a liquid. The inner container is receivable at least partially within the outer chamber. The connector includes a third coupler that is complementary to the first coupler, and a fourth coupler that is complementary to the second coupler. When both the first coupler is engaged with the third coupler and the second coupler is engaged with the fourth coupler, the outer chamber is entirely enclosed within a liquid-proof barrier.

A vessel includes an inner container, an outer container, a connector, a cap, and a lid. The outer container includes a first coupler and an outer chamber. The inner container includes a second coupler and an inner chamber to hold a liquid. The inner container is receivable at least partially within the outer chamber. The connector includes a third coupler that is complementary to the first coupler, and a fourth coupler that is complementary to the second coupler. When both the first coupler is engaged with the third coupler and the second coupler is engaged with the fourth coupler, the outer chamber is entirely enclosed within a liquid-proof barrier.

The petal breastfeeding shield is configured for comfort and to facilitate the breastfeeding of an infant. The shield is formed of a soft thermoplastic elastomeric, e.g., silicone rubber or the like, and has a major portion closely conforming to the major contours of the female human breast. The major portion is relatively thin, the portion covering the areola being relatively thick and the nipple portion having an intermediate thickness. The hollow nipple includes reinforcing and spacing ribs therein to preclude contact with the natural nipple due to suction and resulting blockage of milk flow. One embodiment is configured for use by full term infants, and another embodiment has a smaller nipple extension for use by premature infants. Different shapes and sizes shapes of cut outs or voids may be provided to suit the nursing mother. The petal shield has a wide range of cut outs or voids in a variety of shapes and shape sizes for skin-to-skin contact for infant to smell mother while breastfeeding.

A hydraulic pumping system in accordance with embodiments comprises a breast interface operably coupled to an actuatable assembly by means of an actuatable assembly interface. The breast interface comprises a distal membrane coupled to a housing to form a fluid reservoir therebetween. The actuatable assembly interface comprises a proximal membrane. The distal and proximal membranes are fluidly coupled via a tube carrying a driving fluid. The actuatable assembly interface is configured to removably couple to the actuatable assembly, in order to operably couple the actuatable assembly to the breast interface. The actuatable assembly interface comprises a fluid shut off mechanism to reversibly shut off fluid communication between the breast interface and the actuatable assembly interface when the actuatable assembly interface is decoupled from the actuatable assembly.