Dawn, the very first place I would look is at the Human Milk Banking Assoc. 
of North America. This is where the guidelines come for storage of human 
milk in hospital settings.

We now know that a mom doesn't need to sterilize her collection kit with 
every use - good washing with soap and water is sufficient. So while I 
cringe somewhat at having moms wash and reuse their bottles for the NICU 
area, perhaps in reality it isn't so bad.

I work with low income WIC moms and some of them have to purchase their own 
human milk storage bags/bottles because the hospital doesn't (can't afford) 
to provide them. Some moms have no extra money and human milk storage bags 
are pricey. Some of these moms will go down in quality to bottle liners or 
baggies. I am not sure which is worse, and perhaps having them wash and boil 
their bottles might be better than making them purchase milk storage bags 
(or use baggies!).

The other problem my moms have is many do not have a large soup or spaghetti 
pot to boil things in. Often they just have smaller saucepans. I see them 
boiling their collection kits in water that only covers everything halfway. 
Again, not sure if the pieces need to be submerged totally in the water or 
not to become sterilized.

The thing about sterilization is that the bottles are sterile only while in 
the hot water or steam bath. Once you remove them, or open up the sterile 
packaging and start touching them, I don't think they are sterile any 
longer. Also, the bottles of sterile baby water only say the water is 
sterile (but the actual bottle is not). Once mom opens it up and pours out 
the water, wouldn't the inside no longer be sterile anyway?

I'd be interested to know if you find out anything more specific.

Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC 

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