Here is a question I received from a reader:
My newborn is currently being breastfed. I was unable to breastfeed my baby for two days. Has my milk gone sour?
I'm not sure where this myth about breast milk "going sour" in the breast started, but it's patently false. Your breast milk in your breast is always fresh and even if you have to stop nursing for a day or two because of surgery or medication or separation from your baby, your milk is still as good as it ever was. If you cannot nurse your baby for an extended period of time, regardless of the reason, you want to make sure to pump so that your supply doesn't diminish. Ideally you would be able to pump for every missed feeding, but this is not always possible. Try to pump about every 3 hours until you can get your baby back to the breast.
Milk that is expressed from your breast and is in a bottle or breast milk storage bag, CAN go sour.
You want to be sure you follow the guidelines closely for breast milk storage which you can find on this LLLI Fact Sheet. Washing your hands, sterilizing your pump parts and bottles and immediately storing your milk will all help to keep it fresh.
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3 comments:
Funny that you just posted that because I just wrote about the research on the historical/cultural reasons people tend to distrust breastmilk... Jacqueline Wolf has written some really interesting articles.
http://phdoula.blogspot.com/2009/06/where-do-our-ideas-about-breastfeeding.html
I had heard at a conference once that some lactation professionals were dealing with many migrant farm workers in southern california and other similar areas...they had some bfing moms all worrying about how their milk would spoil becuz they were working out in hot sun so long... some of the moms would believe the LC's and go ahead and nurse..others wanted to pump out the "bad" milk first then nurse. The discussion was how their cultural myths/beliefs were stronger than professional advice. It was a few years ago and I really can't find the info anymore but stuck in my mind. I am glad to see the link to article cited by phdoula. I am STILL working on my culturally competent care educational inservice for work. thanks for this ? of the day!
Great question!
I have one.
Does breakmilk run out (run dry in the breast) and recharge after nursing for a certain period of time.
Please, don't laugh at me. I'm having issues over here. LOL
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