Hi everyone, I worked this weekend, and I am feeling so upset about some of the things I saw. I work occasionally in a local hospital in mother-baby. This past weekend I was pulled to the intensive care nursery, just helping out the nurses there, as this is not my primary area. We were chatting about the way the babies are fed. They encourage the moms to express and freeze their milk -- they have a freezer for this purpose. I noticed that all the milk is placed in the freezer immediately -- none is saved in the refrigerator. I also noticed that the nurses don't actually use the EBM. They have to defrost it, and it is a nuisance when the baby is crying for his/her milk, so they grab a bottle of ABM and feed it to the baby. When I commented on this to one of the nurses, she told me she feels more comfortable feeding ABM because "you know it is clean" and that EBM "is not coming from the cleanest source anyway." I mentioned to her that I thought they should refrigerate some of the EBM, rather than freezing it all, and she said that their rule is that milk that is not frozen is thrown away after 24 hours, but that *she* would never use EBM that had not been frozen IMMEDIATELY, because it would not be clean. She was very upset with me for suggesting differently. She said their LC at the hospital goes to alot of conferences and knows much more than I do. (which is undoubtly true.) How long can EBM be safely refrigerated? Is there any advantage to using the milk before it is frozen? I realize I can not change this hosptial's policies, as I am only a temporary employee there anyway, but I would like to know for my own knowledge. I had the impression that EBM is good for 5 days refrigerated, and that never frozen milk is preferable over defrosted, if there is a choice. Excuse me for asking such elementary questions, and thanks for all I have learned from you. Anne Pfannkoch, RN who has read the complaints about nurses not encouraging breastfeeding in the obstetrical units and realizes that it is too often true.