Barbara, 

I know one of the authors and was present on a discussion board where the article was discussed and planned.

There have been a number of parents on discussion boards who are worried about 'ruining' their breast milk due to shaking - so much so that some of them have discarded milk that has been shaken. I have read posts and comments written by mothers who have had arguements with their partner or carer because they have been 'careless' and shaken their milk. Parents who are expressing milk full time, or are expressing milk due to separation are probably particularly vulnerable to the messages they receive because of the emotional stress involved in having a non-latching baby or separation. 

Many breastfeeding providers have tried to find out where the information that shaking breastmilk could be damaging in the hope of finding the evidence behind it. The earliest article that has been found is by Linda J. Smith http://www.bflrc.com/ljs/breastfeeding/shakenot.htm, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding states "One of the valuable components of our milk is the long-chain fatty acids. If you shake your milk to mix it, you'll actually break up some of these chains. That's not harmful but it's not as valuable", KellyMom has updated her page which originally referenced Linda Smith's article with a discussion on whether there is any danger http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/ referencing one of the articles that you have found. 

Is there any evidence behind the warning to not shake breastmilk, or that shaking breastmilk is an issue at all? If it is, we need to find the sources and publish them alongside the warnings - this is a frequent topic of discussion in parent forums and even those articles haven't reassured many parents who really don't need the stress of worrying about something that they don't need to worry about (if it's true they don't need to worry about it),

Alice Farrow
Rome, Italy

www.cleftlipandpalatebreastfeeding.com
www.languageofinclusion.com
'Want to be an IBCLC?' https://www.facebook.com/groups/wanttobeanibclc/?ref=br_tf

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