Original ArticleRefrigerator Storage of Expressed Human Milk in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Section snippets
Methods
Mothers of term and preterm infants in the NICU were asked to collect 80 mL of milk using an electric breast pump (Ameda SMB Electric Breast Pump, Piqua, Ohio) directly into breast milk storage containers (Medela, Inc., McHenry, Illinois) from either or both breasts. Mothers gave their fresh milk to the research team who aseptically separated the 80-mL sample into 5 milk storage containers that either were studied immediately (at time point 0) or stored in the NICU at refrigerator temperature
Results
Milk was obtained at a median of 28 days postpartum (range, 7 to 150 days) from mothers who delivered at a median gestational age of 32 weeks (range, 25 to 41 weeks). The average time between milk collection and first analysis was approximately 2.4 ± 1.2 hours. The cumulative numbers of refrigerator “openings” at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours were 21 ± 8, 38 ± 15, 56 ± 21, and 71 ± 27, respectively. Milk pH declined significantly, from 7.21 to 6.68 over 96 hours of storage (Figure 1). White blood
Discussion
This multifactorial approach determined that the integrity of fresh mother's milk was not affected by 5 days of storage at refrigerator temperature. We observed how often the refrigerator was opened each day, yet the temperature was maintained and verified by serial monitoring. The lack of significant increases in bacterial colony counts is important. Indeed, the decline in Gram-positive colony counts is indicative of an active host defense system in the milk. Although the changes in bacterial
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2019, Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty AcidsCitation Excerpt :The latter was also not affected by refrigeration at 4 °C for up to three days [48]. Total lipid content was also unchanged by refrigeration at 4 °C for 24 h [49], or up to 96 h [50]. Similarly, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content (including linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6), α-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3), ARA and DHA), as well as saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid content was not significantly altered when stored for 96 h at 4 °C [23] or 6.8 °C [51].
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.