There was a story in the news in the last year about a female doctor who shipped out to Iraq or to Afghanistan, leaving her BFing baby home with dad. She pumped her milk and shipped it home for babe. Maybe because of her rank, she could always get it on the next direct transport, but I don't really recall.
So why won't shippers accept milk? When I worked for my local Child Support (govt) agency, the phlebotomist could overnight express (via FedEx? It wasn't UPS or DHL. Is there another?) the blood samples for DNA testing in an out of state lab. And they were fresh, NOT frozen! Don't they ship bodies for burial in other states? How about frozen food? (such as milk?) I know someone who bought a huge slab of smoked salmon on vacation and shipped it home safely in the luggage compartment. The seller packed it for him. There has to be a way!
In my hospital, we had a mom who lived across the country but ended up delivering her preemie at our hospital. She pumped amazing amts of milk and when discharge time came, wanted to ship it home instead of discarding it. There are no local hospitals that will take untested milk from an untested mother, so... we called TSA and learned about packing milk with dry ice and tightly packed newspapers. But you can't seal it. Dry ice MUST be vented. There's this whole thing about marking PERISHABLE and a declaration of contents. It goes in the luggage compartment which is generally very cold at high altitudes. It's the heat of the airport that is a problem. Anyway, her milk was sent out in ordinary insulated cooler chests (donated by generous hosp staff) that were latched and taped to keep them closed, but they do not have an airtight seal, so no risk of dry ice gasses blowing up the cooler chest.
As usual, check for CURRENT rules set by the TSA. And try to find someone who might understand the project and the reasons rather than someone who parrots: "It says here on line 23, of page 7, in Book 12, that you must...yaddah yaddah yaddah..."
Allow time at the airport for opening up the cooler chest for inspection, then resealing it PROPERLY when finished. Don't trust TSA to reseal it correctly! You may need an appointment for that.
Phyllis
---- Ayelet Kaznelson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
=============
Hi all.
Permission to post from mom. I have a mother who will be traveling for work
to Japan for 10 days. She is trying to figure out how to best handle the
pumped milk. She was asking about shipping it from Japan. My search came up
with info that FED EX, UPS and DHL will not ship breastmilk. Anyone knows
any different? Also, if she needs to travel back with it I understand that
the TSA will allow for it to be in a check - in bag. Any tips about how to
best preserve it on the long trip back home? (other than cool gel pack,
newspaper to further insulate?) Please e-mail me directly, as I am off list
at this time. Thanks so much,
Ayelet Kaznelson, IBCLC in NYC
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
--
Phyllis Adamson, IBCLC, RLC
Glendale, AZ.
[log in to unmask]
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
|
