Hi. I have a situation that came about. I was not directly involved but
heard the story first hand by the mom. Mother of newborn (few days old) was
pumping for hospitalized baby, taking labeled bottles to the nursery. To
make a long story short, the nurse mixed her milk up with other unlabeled
bottles. The mom caught on to this first and raised holy heck (rightfully
so). After she struggled with the hospital for 3 days, yes THREE days, they
finally sent the milk off to be tested. Was tested by at least 2 diff labs.
POSITIVE FOR HEPATITIS C!!!!

She called many places for advice. Med. College of VA, Duke University and
others could find little info on BF and Hep C. They assured her this was a
good sign showing there was no known complications/risk of exposure. This
baby was only exposed once, which I understand is a different situation than
the mother who is infected and continues to nurse. However, this mom was not
advised to wean, watch for her own exposure, etc. The risk must not be too high.

My concern was that there was another mom/baby pair out there nursing with
Hep C, and she doesn't know it!! They *could not* remember who the milk
belonged to, or even how long it had been there! Can you imagine? Heaven
forbid they call the infected mom and say, "You have Hep C. The way we know
is that we accidently gave your milk to another baby!" Yeah, right.

BTW, the mom's father is an attorney!! Also, the nurse is still working
there, no suspension, reprimands or anything. Her husband got ill soon
afterward, and they didn't have the heart to reprimand her. What if that had
been a unit of blood!!

I'm sorry to rattle on. I have no patience for negligence.
Lechia Davis, RNC, ACCE, IBCLC
Maternal Instincts
Danville, VA