Hi Marley - I can imagine how you feel about mixing up breastmilk.
Everywhere I've worked it's been treated like a major felony and the
midwife responsible spends a lot of time writing reports, feeling guilty
and hoping she doesn't get sued.
However, the same mother whose baby receives this superior product
inadvertently doesn't blink if her baby is given the milk of an entirely
different species that really can be very detrimental to its health ie a
COW!!  Yes, OK check the inadvertent donor mother for Hep whatever and HIV,
but the reality is that even if she did have them it would be HIGHLY
unlikely that the baby would contract them anyway, after one feeding, and
only further serves to frighten the daylights out of the baby's mother.
Actually if anyone should be upset it should be the donor mother - she may
have had such a lot of trouble getting that milk for her baby, and it was
given to someone else.

Rant over. Our hospital policy is that all milk (both human and cow) is
written on the storage bottle in waterproof marking pen with mother's name,
date and time of collection/make up.  It is then to be checked by two staff
prior to administration.  The checking always happens, but often it is with
the mother and a staff member, rather than two staff.
An abrasive pad or an alcohol injection swab gets the writing off the bottle.

Hope this helps
Denise
****************************************************
Denise Fisher, BN, RM, IBCLC
BreastEd Online Lactation Studies Course
http://www.breasted.com.au
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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