Kerri, I agree that lining up all of the many milk storage guidelines which are available can be confusing.  Both the guidelines on the LLL website at http://www.llli.org/faq/milkstorage.html) and the milk storage guidelines from the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (http://www.bfmed.org/Media/Files/Protocols/Protocol%208%20-%20English%20revised%202010.pdf) were written with significant input from Dr. Anne Eglash.  You may find the last paragraph of the LLLI Leaven article on the revised milk storage guidelines (see < http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/lv/lviss3-2008p2.html> )   helpful when teaching your class:  



" A strict public health approach, encouraged in many countries, results in guidelines that are more conservative. The question becomes, "Should we tell women to forget about breastfeeding and feed their infants formula if the mothers, for example, must keep their expressed milk at room temperature for longer than four hours -- perhaps with no (or unreliable) access to refrigeration/cooling packs -- or if their milk has been refrigerated longer than 72 hours?" A comprehensive review of the literature leads to the conclusion that there is no evidence to support the idea that formula feeding is preferable to feeding expressed human milk in these circumstances. Indeed, although research may indicate that human milk is safe when stored at a certain temperature for a certain period of time, studies are often limited in that they do not continue beyond the given time period. It is important to consider the possible harm of implying that infant formula is superior to expressed human milk unless storage conditions are ideal, given the limited state of the research about human milk storage and the fact that LLLI helps mothers and babies around the world, not just in the USA. When asked, experts consulted for review of the revised guidelines agreed that human milk would be better than infant formula under almost any circumstances. This is the bottom line message that must not be lost in the shuffle as we debate the research."



Human milk would be better than infant formula under almost any circumstances.  That is the important message!





____________________________________________

Sara Dodder Furr, MA, LLLL, IBCLC

Quality Improvement Program Specialist 

DHHS - Public Health, Licensure Unit 

301 Centennial Mall South Nebraska State Office Building , 3 with PO 94986

Lincoln, NE 68509

(402)471-4973 | [log in to unmask]





------------------------------



Date:    Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:08:44 -0500

From:    Kerri Bundy <[log in to unmask]>

Subject: Milk storage guidelines and old texts



...I have a question regarding milk storage. Which guidelines are correct? ....



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