Brenda asks: The question came up today - if a mom brings in fresh
breastmilk,
should we give preference to fresh milk and use it, or defrost  the
colostrum and give that to the baby? I can't find my Human Milk  Bank
Guidelines, so am not sure if it is addressed  there.

Thanks,
Brenda Phipps, BS, IBCLC

Great, great question! I have worked with NICU moms for years and don't
really know the answer to this but tend to think fresh milk is best when
available. In the hosp where I used to work (long sad story) we give fresh milk  to
premies only for the first week and then it must be frozen until 34 weeks or
until the baby goes to breast--whichever comes first. The thought behind this is
 that in the first week the CMV load is very low and the fresh colostrum is
so  valuable. Getting babies to breast early circmumvents the need to give
frozen  milk until 34 weeks.

Kathy Boggs, RN, IBCLC


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