We store all pumped milk in our hospital freezers or refrigerators in the
Nursery and NICU for mothers who are pumping.  I hope that  quality
improvement is a goal for this hospital.  Nurses are taught to give
medications using the three Rs, or at least I was when in nursing school
(Right Patient, Right Dose, Right Medication).  Also checking label three
times before using.  Labeling system should be fool proof.  The nurses
are responsible for warming and making sure the correct "medication" is
given to the infants.  Labels (name, date  and time of pumping) and color
coded sticky dots are mandatory on the bottle.  If there is no label we
don't use the milk.  We have never had an infant receive the wrong breast
milk in our Normal Newborn Nursery or NICU.  Is this really a legitimate
reason to tell a mother she can't store her milk in their facility?
Guidelines for storing EBM should be incorporated in their
Standards of Care.
Darlene Breed BSN, RN, IBCLC
Coordinator, Milk Bank/Breastfeeding Center
UMass Memorial Health Care
Worcester, MA (USA)


>I was contacted by a colleague at a hospital with what seems to me as
>a severe
>policy. If a mother with a substance abusing history has a baby in
>their NICU,
>she is not allowed to store her expressed milk in the hospital, for
>fear of
>accidental switching of mothers' milk.

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