hello mummy..i know my reply is coming a bit too late... but I hope this reply will come in useful for anyone who searches for the words "manual pump". Were you referring to the Haakaa Silicone breast pump? I bought one and found it amazing! It didn't hurt at all and I managed to yield abt 60ml within 5mins. You need to massage first and position it nicely and make sure the suction is strong and secure. A couple of things to note: as you managed to pump out more..your breast 'deflates' so the suction and grip is not there anymore... secondly, if milk leaks out and touches the sides of the pump, it will be wet and will result in loss of suction power and might glide off. Anyway I loved it so much that I bought a second piece. I left one set in the office (you can just continue to pump discreetly whilst working at your desk, no noise, no tubings, no cables) and use the other at home.
hmm.. I've asked around and one of my friends was using Pigeon Manual Breast Pump. Works well and she did not have any complaints about the pump itself. However, she switched to an electric pump shortly after as she realized manual pump took longer and she wanted to keep the pumping session at work as short as possible.
You can easily get a smaller electric pump to store in your office. The manual pump is not comfortable and I read that manual pumps in general are kindda redundant these days.