Expressing & storing and feeding Milk

Hand Expressing

Hand expressing is a useful skill that every mum should have. If you need help to learn, this video may be useful: 

Breast milk Storage

Good Hygiene

  • Wash your hands before expressing breastmilk.
  • Store in a plastic or glass container with an airtight sealed lid.  Containers and feeding equipment should be washed in hot soapy water and then rinsed.
  • If baby is pre-term, the containers and equipment need to be sterilised with sterilising equipment or tablets with each use
  • If baby is Full-term or older you only need to sterilise your pumping equipment ONCE a day and wash it like dishes in-between.
  • Date the milk at the time of collection.
  • Store milk in small portions of up to or around 100mls to prevent waste.
  • Keep expressed breastmilk towards the back of the main body of the refrigerator where the temperature is remains more constant . The New Zealand Food Safety Authority recommends refrigerators are operated at 0–4oC (NZFSA 2008).

Below is a fact sheet with the New Zealand Ministry of Health Guideline for Storage of Breastmilk. 2013. Note that these guidelines are for expressed breastmilk that is fed to healthy, full-term infants who live at home.

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Using Frozen Breastmilk

  • Defrost in the refrigerator or by placing the container of milk in warm water until the milk has thawed.
  • DO NOT defrost or heat using a microwave oven because microwaving destroys some of the milk’s immunological components. There is also a risk of uneven heating and scalding.
  • Warm expressed breastmilk by placing the cup or bottle containing the milk in hot water.
  • Before feeding baby, mix the milk well to “dissolve” the top fat layer and to distribute the heat evenly.
  • Test the temperature of the milk by shaking a few drops on the inside of your wrist. It should feel comfortably warm to the touch before being given to your baby.

Bottle feeding your baby safely:

Bottle flows are always much faster than the breast flow, even if you are using a preemie teat so it is important to feed your baby with a bottle correctly to protect breastfeeding, avoid choking or milk aspiration into their lungs OR breast aversion.

Breast aversion can happen when babies develop a preference for the faster flow of the bottle.

Watch this video and follow the steps to keep baby safe and feeding at a more paced rate: