I don`t interpret this data about quality of refrigerated EBM as promotion of formula.
We know that the miracle of mother`s milk is that it changes in composition as the baby grows and develops.  So it is obvious that the milk a mother pumps today will not be as suitable for the baby in another month, although of course it is still superior to formula.
My concern is not for the occasional bag of milk that has been stored for some time, but for the guidelines we give mothers who have to pump regularly, e.g. returning to work.
Instead of aiming to keep a full freezer, I am now advising mothers just to keep a couple of days ahead of themselves, pumping at work for the next day and catching up on supply when they are home at weekends and can breastfeed and pump more often.  In this way they do not need to store milk for long periods.
I have seen a trend here among even new mothers to pump even when they are home with their babies because they say it is quicker to give bottles and they can also share the baby-feeding with their partner/mother etc.  I personally think that is double work, cleaning and preparing bottles and pumping.  Also mothers do not realise that  the let-down reflex works much more effectively when the baby sucks direct with skin-to-skin contact.  I then hear them say: I pumped for ages and only a few drops came out."
But at the end of the day, if this keeps them breastfeeding, then they just need guidelines on how to keep expressed milk stored with its optimum benefits to the baby and hope they get the confidence to reduce the use of the pump and feed the baby direct from the breast.
Women returning to work do not have that choice so again it is our job to make sure the milk is stored safely without reducing the health benefits by prolonged refrigeration.
Is that promotion for formula? I don`t think so.

Wendy Blumfield
NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor
Israel Childbirth Education Centre

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