Breast shield arrangement for a breast pump

A breast shield arrangement for a breast pump, the breast shield arrangement comprising:

• a sealing portion adapted to seal the breast shield arrangement against a breast of a user;
• a port adapted to be coupled to an expression kit or to be a part of the expression kit;
• and
• an intermediate portion coupled to the sealing portion and the port and adapted to receive part of the breast including a nipple and at least part of an areola,
• said intermediate portion having a first end, a second end, and a curved portion with a first end and a second end,
• wherein a length of the curved portion is greater than a distance between the first end and the second end of the curved portion,
• wherein the curved portion has at least a concave shape at the first end of the intermediate portion as seen from the sealing portion,
• wherein the curved portion comprises another sealing portion being adapted to seal at least part of the curved portion against the nipple of the part of the breast received by the intermediate portion when a vacuum is applied at the port of the breast shield arrangement, thereby across-sectional area of the curved portion is reduced from the first end to the second end of the curved portion.

A method of operating a breast shield arrangement for a breast pump, wherein the breast shield arrangement comprises a first sealing portion, a port and an intermediate portion coupled to first sealing portion and the port, wherein the intermediate portion comprises a circumferentially extending wall defining a first volume, wherein the intermediate portion has a curved portion, the method comprising:

• placing the intermediate portion over part of a breast of a user including a nipple and at least part of an areola;
• sealing the breast shield arrangement against the breast by the first sealing portion;
• coupling the port of the breast shield arrangement to an expression kit;
• applying a vacuum to the port of the breast shield arrangement by a vacuum generating unit such that a second sealing portion of the curved portion is brought into contact against the nipple and at least part of the areola of the breast, wherein the vacuum applied to the port is the only vacuum in the breast shield arrangement;
• and
• creating a second volume between the first and second sealing portions and the breast when the second sealing portion comes into contact against the nipple and the at least part of the areola of the breast,
• wherein the curved portion at the second volume is curved outwardly away from the breast.