Aviva ruttkinjenny BOURBEAU was frustrated by this.
For the past 10 months, the Massachusetts mother has been expressing breast milk for her younger son.
Like many mothers, she needs to use water pumps, but she finds the experience to be impersonal and difficult.
"I spent a lot of time on the pump and the process, thinking about how bad it is, how better it is, and wondering why it is not yet," she said . ".
Last weekend, her son, Burbo, and more than 150 engineers, designers, healthcare experts and parents gathered at the MIT Media Lab to participate in a game called "Let the breast pump not suck
Their goal.
It took two days to completely reshape the device that was forgotten by innovation.
Since the portable pump was widely used more than 20 years ago, this design has hardly changed.
Many mothers need to use one when they go back to work so their milk doesn't stop while others have to express milk because they can't breastfeed normally.
Other people choose to do this so dad can share the food.
However, mothers complain that the pump is noisy, uncomfortable, difficult to clean and inconvenient to carry.
They may take a long time to assemble and often carry complex parts that are easy to lose.
Many women are embarrassed to use water pumps when they leave home.
Catherine de Ignazio, a research affiliate at MIT, is the mother of three children.
Organize the event and wonder if there is a way to move the technology forward.
"Now, we're all smart," she said . "
"Why is the breast pump not smart?
"On Saturday morning, everyone at the attendees had a minute to express their thoughts, then rushed to join the team and frantically made a prototype for the next 26 hours.
Many people, like Bourbeau, come with their children on weekends.
At the back of the room, there is a big play area for children to play with and a private corner for mothers to try these ideas.
A wall lined with prints of hundreds of Facebook comments from parents who had heard of the event and wanted to chime in.
Throughout the event, mothers are encouraged to meet with hackers and provide feedback and even try on their projects.
"We want to hear these voices," said Ignazio . ".
The highest award was awarded to the great mother who designed both hands
A free utility belt with a tube, a pump that causes wear under the bra, is designed to make it easier to start pumping.
The belt is equipped with a milk bottle slot and a data sensor for monitoring the information of the milk, such as fat content.
In addition, the tubes that deliver milk from the pump to the bottle can be "decompressed" to make them easier to clean.
The team received & dollar for their ideas;
3000 and two went to Silicon Valley to market their ideas to investors.
The second place is a group that fills the pump with warm silicone beads and adds massage techniques inspired by sex toys to help milk flow.
Other team projects include a smartphone app that tracks data for each pumping session; a blanket-
Just like the accessories block the line of sight of the pump and reduce its noise;
Public "pods" that mothers can go comfortably ";
The virtual reality game of Oculus Rift teaches new mothers about breastfeeding.
"I 've been recalling everyone's project almost all night and coming up with more ideas," Bourbeau said . ". A $
500 user rewards-
Focus on the design of the second nature.
Their pumps mimic organisms and the colon;
A flange shaped like a baby's mouth, a retractable moving tongue and an pneumatic pump made of balloons all help the flow of milk.
Local mother Christie Johnson is the helm of the second nature.
She spent a few days before the event looking up a breastfeeding chart and outlining ideas.
"In the past, the technology seemed to be so consolidated.
There must be a better way to do this.