Dear JoAnne,

Regarding working in a dirty area for pumping: Any hospital is "dirty." I
worried about this when I pumped for my daughter while working in a
neonatal intensive care unit at the #5 hospital in the country. It's
filthy!  Staph, beta strep, and gram negative rods of all kinds lurked
about. I find that your personal pumping and storage area is what counts.
If her pump and all materials are contained...she can spread them out and
pump quite hygienic. Wrapping her equipment in a small blanket or
sheet...then open them up ...use them....close it back and replace. The
contact can be quite minimal with her environment. We have pumps for our
moms and a pump room, but I still felt as if I needed to keep MY STUFF away
from what I knew was there. My daughter was fine, and probably would have
been had I not taken precautions. I have a study where a truck driver in
Maine picked up donor breast milk from people in his county, kept it in the
back of his truck all day until he delivered it all to the hospital.
Cutting to the chase, no babies ever got sick from bacterial sources nor
did they suffer from milk going "bad." This practice was not encouraged but
since it was a protocol in place...they studied it.  MOMS MILK RULES!
FORMULA DROOLS!

Kathy Pierce,R.N.,IBLCE