Hi Laura,

I know another mother who recounts that her babies milk 'tasted like vomit', so perhaps the 'soapy smell' as a description for milk with high lipase is innacurate?
 
I wouldn't have described my expressed milk as 'soapy smelling', but I believe it was high in  lipase - that was six years ago now, and I couldn't describe the smell to you, but it smelt 'off'. I have another friend with the same problem and she described her expressed milk;

> I checked the milk and it was really disgusting, tasted of regurgitated milk! Yuck!

She said that she hadn't had the same problem with her first child, but on discussion realised that she had never tasted her first daughter's expressed milk. I didn't express with my first daughter so I don't know. I imagine that a lot of women express bad smelling milk and we just don't know it. 

To solve the problem LLL suggests scalding. 

>Sometimes thawed milk may smell or taste soapy. This is due to the breakdown of milk fats. The milk is safe and most babies wil still drink it. If there is a rancid smell from high lipase (enzyme that breaks down milk fats) activity when the milk has been chilled or frozen, the milk can be heated to scalding (bubbles around the edges, not boiling) after expression, then quickly cooled and frozen. This deactivates the lipase enzyme. Scalded milk is still a healthier choice than commercial infant formula. http://www.llli.org/faq/milkstorage.html

My friend expresses at work with no kitchen facilities and she has kitted herself up with a brilliant camp kitchen. She expresses her milk, scalds it in a little pot on an electric hot plate, cools it on ice and stores it in a portable fridge. No more smelly milk thanks to quite a lot of resourcefulness and dedication!:)

I have just put up a blog post with a photo as I think it's a story worth sharing
http://breastfeedingclp.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/dealing-with-high-lipase-and-expressed-breast-milk/


Alice Farrow
can we call ourselves IBCLC students now that we have the university requirement?:)
Rome, Italy

             ***********************************************

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