Dear Lactnet friends,
Thank you for all who replied to my question handling human milk. No one though, was able to supply any scientific evidence for the guidelines I asked about. But many anecdotal accounts that human milk is a very robust substance that can live through about any kind of treatment.
What I still will try to find is any kind of research on the effect of shaking (by hand) a container with human milk on the integrity of proteins and, if that is changed, how that might change the nutritional and/or protecting properties of the milk. And any kind of study on the effect on the core temperature of a bottle of milk sitting in the door of the fridge: will frequent (as in a average family fridge) door opening really raise the core temperature of the milk in the bottle for increased bacteria growth?
Warmly,
Gonneke, IBCLC in PP, LC lecturer enjoying listening to the Beatles while working in southern Netherlands
Twitter @eurolacpuntnet
--- On Wed, 4/13/11, gonneke van veldhuizen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: gonneke van veldhuizen <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [LACTNET] handling human milk
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 9:13 AM
Dear fellow Lactnuts,
In all kinds of publications and
communications rules for handling human milk are shared. These may vary
from how to express or pump to in what container to hold at what
temperature for how long and how to thaw, heat, handle and feed. Some of
the recommendations are evidence based (like overheating destroys
bio-activity), but for many I can't seem to find any scientific basis.
Who can provide me evidence for the following (or are they just
assumptions and old-wife tales?):
- do not ever shake human milk (I
really would like to know what has been observed under controlled
laboratory circumstances with shaken milk!)
- place human milk at a
certain place in the fridge or freezer for fear of temperature changes
(now, really, folks, how are the odds of rising the temperature of cold
milk in a container up to dangerous temperatures for bacteria growth by
opening the fridge door?)
- never mix fresh milk with milk already stored (or not untill they have the same temperature)
- never heat human milk up to body temperature twice
- don't use human milk after deep-freezing for 4 or 6 months
- finish or throw away within an hour of the start of a feed
Warmly,
Gonneke, IBCLC in PP, LC lecturer in southern Netherlands
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