Typically, working women will freeze their breast milk. Therefore, Mama must know how to keep expressed breast milk appropriately.
It is advised that infants 0 to 6 months of age receive just breast milk. In addition to being supplied directly (via direct nursing), breast milk is frequently delivered indirectly through the pumping procedure.
Returning to work after maternity leave is one of the most prevalent reasons why mothers express breast milk. Mama should not store extracted breast milk directly in the freezer to preserve its quality.
The quality of breast milk expressed directly into the freezer may decline. Why? Continue reading to learn about the negative effects of spoilt breast milk and how to properly store breast milk in the freezer.
The nutrition of breast milk has been compromised; what are the repercussions?
Expressions of breast milk should not be frozen directly. Because abrupt fluctuations in temperature might affect the nutritious value of breast milk that has been expressed.
Similarly, frozen expressed breast milk should not be immediately retrieved from the freezer and thawed at room temperature.
Unproperly stored dairy milk may be contaminated with germs, viruses, or even parasites, which can make the infant unwell.
In addition, breast milk may be less successful in meeting the nutritional demands of infants during their growth and development.
How to Properly Store Breast Milk
There are various methods for preserving pumped breast milk, depending on when you intend to provide the milk to your child. Here is the manual.
If you intend to feed or store freshly expressed breast milk, you can leave it at room temperature for a time. Milk from both breasts can be combined for storage if it is expressed simultaneously.
At room temperature up to 25 degrees Celsius, pumped breast milk can be used safely for up to four hours. When stored in the refrigerator, expressed milk has a shelf life of four to five days.
When stored in a cooler box, breast milk has a 24-hour shelf life. The shelf life of breast milk stored in the freezer (below 0 degrees Celsius) is six to twelve months.
Several factors must be considered while handling breast milk that has been defrosted:
- The shelf life of frozen breast milk at room temperature is around 1 to 2 hours.
- Breast milk that has been thawed and refrigerated can be stored for up to 24 hours.
- Breast milk that has been defrosted should not be re-frozen. Then, regardless of the method used to store breast milk, discard any remaining milk more than two hours after it has been swallowed by the infant.
Here are various ways to keep expressed breast milk properly:
- Refrigerate immediately any expressed breast milk
- Label the milk based on the date and time it was stored.
- Try not to combine fresh and aged breast milk.
- For milk storage of tiny quantities
- About 2.5 cm of empty space should be left in the breast milk container.
- Before pumping, wash your hands well with soap and warm water. If there is no soap available, use a hand sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol. Do this prior to and the following pumping.
Always freeze breast milk if you do not want to provide it immediately. Try to freeze small portions of breast milk so that it is not wasted if the infant cannot consume it.
Always store breast milk in a separate container, such as a breast milk bag or a glass bottle for clean breast milk.
Always observe the necessary procedures for preparing, storing, and thawing breast milk so that it does not become contaminated or lose its nutritional value!
Visit this page to learn the best way to store breastmilk in the freezer.