The Smart Breastfeeding Devices 'Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal' and 'Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal+', which bear the press release 'Domestic BabyTech', were launched by Pigeon Corporation on 20 August 2018.
The BabyTech editorial team visited Pigeon Corporation, which developed and launched the products, on 2 August, just before the products were released. We spoke to company officials and NTT Resonant Corporation, the developer of the Pigeon Switch app, about the product's features and aims.
(Interviewed by.)
Pigeon Corporation
Mr. Keiji Kubota, Marketing Group
Mr Yuichiro Tanaka, Feeding and Lactation Research and Development Group
NTT Resonant Corporation
Mr. Naganori Kimoto, Manager, Corporate Sales Division
Mr Satoshi Komidera, Senior Manager, Corporate Sales Division
From left to right: Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Komidera, Mr. Kimoto, Mr. Kubota (honorifics omitted)
Domestic BabyTech, born from the renewal of the breast pump lineup
Editor: Can you tell us about the development of the new Pigeon breast pump, which is being released as "domestic baby tech"?
Kubota: We recently renewed the entire BabyCenter series of breast pumps. In the renewal, we made various improvements in response to customer requests, and one of those improvements was the linkage between the breast pump and the smartphone app, which was a key point for BabyTech.
Editor: What is a breast pump and how is it used?
Kubota：For example, a mother who has a slow milk supply may "express" her milk frequently, and then breastfeed her child when a certain amount of milk has accumulated. There are also cases where a mother whose child drinks so little milk that her breasts are tender and painful because of the milk left in her breasts "suckles" the excess milk. In order to respond to such various ways of use, we offer four types of "breast pump". They can be broadly divided into "manual type" and "electric type".
Editor: What are the features of each?
Kubota: There is one manual type product, the Breast Milk Assist Manual, which is suctioned and "pumped" when the mother grasps the handle by hand. The electric type comes in three types, with an electric pump that sucks and "pumps" the milk. The product lineup consists of "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Handy Fit", which integrates the breast pump and the breast opening, "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal" and "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal+", in which the electric pump is connected to the breast opening by a tube. Personal+".
