In a hospital setting I think we have to be very concerned about universal precuations because of the prevalence of nosocomial infections. I explain to a mom that I glove not to protect me from her milk, but to protect her and her baby from anything I may have come in contact with. Mothers appreciate that greatly and accept that without issue - in fact most will then demand that anyone who touches them wear gloves :) Much as contact isolation in the NICU works both to proect other babies as well as THEIR baby (and parents like it when I explain that to them)gloves protect the person you are providing care to. Frankly, if I had a baby in the NICU, I would prefer he be in contact isolation to protect him from the things OTHER babies might have! If we explain to the mother and provide her the information she needs, then she will be informed and understand what we are doing. I think that prevents the message that breastmilk is somehow dirty from being conveyed. Michelle Meeks, RN *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html