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Maternal beliefs and practices about storage of human milk
Author(s) -
Cheng David,
O'Sullivan Elizabeth,
Rasmussen Kathleen
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.583.2
Subject(s) - guideline , expiration date , agency (philosophy) , qualitative research , psychology , medicine , food science , chemistry , sociology , pathology , social science
The majority of human milk (HM)‐feeding mothers in the US express their milk. Expressed HM may be fed directly to the infant or stored for some time. Storage guidelines vary depending on location (countertop, refrigerator, freezer pack or freezer) and guideline source (governmental agency, pump manufacturer or parenting website). HM storage was a theme that emerged in our analysis of qualitative interviews about HM expression conducted with a diverse sample of 41 mothers of children aged ~1‐3 years old. Interviews were transcribed and themes were identified via iterative open and closed coding using Atlas.ti. Subjects had inconsistent beliefs about how long HM could be stored in different locations and many were concerned about HM “expiring” over time. Some felt their HM smelled or tasted bad and attributed this to excess lipase in their milk. Many subjects implemented complex milk rotation strategies, feeding some mixture of fresh, refrigerated, and frozen HM to try to use up HM nearing a perceived expiration date. A few women simply discarded HM they believed to have expired. Research is required to create evidence‐based guidelines for HM storage, which should be disseminated broadly to mothers.