The collection and storage of human milk : report / of a Working Party on Human Milk Banks, Panel on Child Nutrition, Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy.

  • Great Britain. Working Party on Human Milk Banks.
Date:
1981
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The collection and storage of human milk : report / of a Working Party on Human Milk Banks, Panel on Child Nutrition, Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    help prevent over-distension but most women will settle into a routine of expressing every 3-4 hours. The amounts of milk obtained at any time by either method will obviously vary. 4.4.4 When milk donors are carefully screened and trained in the methods of manual expression, bacterial colony counts are low. However, because the first few millilitres (m1) of expressed milk may yield colony counts higher than in the subsequent milk, some milk bans may wish to consider discarding the first few ml before collecting the milk (Asquith and Harrod, 1979; West, Hewitt and Murphy, 1979). 4.4.5 The choice of material employed in the construction of the containers used for collecting and storing human milk is not thought to be critical under the normal operating conditions of a well run human milk bank. However, it is important that the container and its closure should be completely leak-proof, and both should be capable of retaining this property under the expected handling conditions, and across the whole temperature range to which the container may be subject. 4.5 Keeping the milk at home 4.5.1 The containers used for either individual samples or 24-hour bulk collections of milk should be either sterile or disinfected, and labelled with the donor’s name, address, date of collection and a note made of any drugs being taken by the donor. Individual samples (McEnery and Chattopadhyay, 1978) should be placed immediately in the ordinary compartment of a domestic refrigerator, or added immediately to a refrigerated 24-hour bulk sample bottle which should be returned to the refrigerator as soon as possible. 4.5.2 Provided that transport to the milk bank is on a daily basis and that the milk is transported within 24 hours of collection, the milk may be kept in the domestic refrigerator near to the freezer compartment. If transport arrange- ments are less frequent, each completed 24-hour sample of milk should be placed in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator or in a domestic deep itceze, 4.6 Transport of milk to milk banks 4.6.1 There are several ways in which the milk may reach the milk bank, and the method of choice will depend on the local geography and facilities available. The mother or a member of the family may deliver the milk daily or every few days. In some areas it is possible for midwives or health visitors to assist in the collection of milk from the mothers. In large cities where there are several hospital units requiring milk and large numbers of scattered donors, a hospital collection and delivery service may be necessary. The filled containers are collected from the donors, fresh equipment is supplied and the