Literature review for - Flourish Paediatrics

4. Storage of Expressed Breastmilk – extract from the 2003 Infant Feeding
Guidelines (National Health and Medical Research Council 2003)
The requirements for storing breastmilk are more stringent for sick or premature babies in
hospital than for healthy babies at home.
Storing breastmilk in hospital
Mothers and health workers should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water before
handling breastmilk.
• Breastmilk is best used when fresh. A mother should try to provide fresh breastmilk daily
for her baby; if this is not possible, the milk can be stored in a refrigerator or freezer in
sterilised plastic containers.
• Breastmilk refrigerated at 4°C for 48 hours suffers little loss of nutrients or immunological
properties and the bacterial count is actually reduced.
• Freshly expressed milk should be chilled in the refrigerator before being added to zen milk.
• Warmed milk should be given straight away and any amount left over should be discarded.
• Never refreeze or reheat breastmilk.
• Label the container with surname, date, and time of expression.
• Do not thaw or warm breastmilk in the microwave.
• Thaw breastmilk by placing it in either cool or warm water. Shake the milk gently before
using it if it has separated.
• Thawed milk should be used within 24 hours.
Mothers should be given advice about cleaning, storing and sterilising equipment
Storing breastmilk at home
Very little special handling of a mother’s milk is necessary. Since breastmilk is already sterile
when it comes from the breast, expressed breastmilk is safer to use than prepared infant
formula. It can be stored in glass or plastic containers, including sealable plastic bags. Freshly
expressed milk can be chilled in the refrigerator and added to frozen milk in the freezer.
The following is a simple guide for mothers storing expressed breastmilk at home:
• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water.
• Refrigerate or freeze milk after expressing.
• Use fresh milk whenever possible.
• Freeze milk that will not be used within two days.
• Use the oldest milk first; date the container at the time of collection.
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