An electric breast pump is disclosed as including a hood to be fitted over
a breast of a user, a chamber in fluid communication with the hood member
via a one-way valve, a pump motor operatively associated with a pump
diaphragm movable to draw air from the hood into the chamber via the
valve, in which the chamber has an opening and a lid which is operatively
associated with the motor, in which the lid is movable between a first
position to close the opening and a second position in which the opening
is open, and in which the lid is at the first position when the motor is
in operation and is at the second position when the motor is not in
operation. The breast pump also includes sensors for detecting the
passing of milk, and a microcontroller for calculating the rate of flow
of milk on the basis of data received from the sensors.