Hi Marla,

At the hospital where I was working as an IBCLC, they began using the microsteam bags for sterilizing pump pieces once a day.  The pieces were to be washed first in soapy water and rinsed.  When drying, mothers were advised to place paper toweling on the bottom of the basin used for washing the pieces and set the pieces on the paper towels to air dry. The basin would set on the tray table or preferably on the side table. In the NICU, parents have a cubby space in the baby's room where the basin can sit out of the way.  I often suggested that they cover the basin with cheese cloth or a light layer of paper toweling for added protection of air contaminants and yet air circulate.

Mother's are shown how to hand express. However, this is usually by an IBCLC as many nurses are not comfortable with this teaching. The hospital has ordered "realistic" teaching aids so nurses can practice hand expression on a model filled with water that has nipple pores to help overcome this awkwardness. If baby is with mom, they will often use a spoon to express into and then offer to baby if not latching well yet. If baby is in NICU, they can pump into a small colostrum bottle or hand express with a syringe nearby to catch the small drops. The bottle would be capped to carry down and the syringe set in another container then transported to the NICU. The bottles could be reused, but not the syringes.

If the baby is on the unit with the mother, the mother has the option to express into the baby's mouth or to the spoon or syringe and then fed. If expressing after the feeding, then the description above is followed. 

Hope this helps,

Cindy Garrison BS IBCLC
retired from hospital practice in Pittsburgh PA area

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

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