At 08:56 PM 10/22/01 -0400, you wrote:
>I am trying to find out what the current standard is for moms using milk
>that was frozen during a bout with thrush, does it increase the risk of
>getting thrush again? I know freezing does not kill yeast. What do you all
>think?

Cindy, as far as I know there is no current standard. There are opinions,
and there are mothers who are scared to re-introduce candida to their
infants' GI tracts.

When I am asked, as I frequently am, I let the mother know that there is no
research and no agreement among health professionals on handling frozen
breastmilk that was pumped during an active yeast imbalance.  I let them
know that heating does kill yeast and I suggest that they can thaw the
milk, heat it to scalding and feed it to the baby (after cooling, of
course). I also recommend that if they are pumping now that the yeast
imbalance is resolved, they should clearly label this milk so that they
don't add unnecessary work.

As I wrote in an earlier post, I strongly suggest that a mother not
continue to freeze her milk, using the oldest milk first. (Many do this
until educated against it.) If her baby gets currently pumped milk the
frozen "yeasty" milk is not a problem and that milk can be scalded as it is
needed in an emergency.

I am of the opinion that a healthy gut and healthy immune system will not
be susceptible to yeast overgrowth from ingesting candida-laced milk, but
one never knows how healthy an infant's gut and immune system are. We don't
know how long it takes to restore the gut to optimal health so we might as
well not take the chance.

Amidst the above discussion I remind the mother that there is no safe
substitute for her breastmilk, just in case she was thinking that formula
would be an acceptable alternative to the risk of re-infecting her infant.

I have not had any client who was not accepting of the added step of
destroying the yeast with heating.

Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconcin
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