Want Long-lasting Expressed Breast Milk? Store Properly.

For mothers who need to store breast milk for their babies because of certain things such as working or going for long period of time, but still want to give breast milk to the baby, the mother's breast milk can be pumped and then stored. Here are tips from PRENAGEN about proper storage of breast milk so that the milk remains in good condition when stored.

The breast milk can be stored in a given period of time. But the breast milk can be stored for no more than 6 months in a frozen state, if stored for longer than 6 months, the breast milk composition in breast milk will be decomposing.

The breast milk storage and the proper storage period are as follows : 

1. The breast milk which is pumped and then stored to be consumed 6 hours after pumping can be stored in a normal room temperature and do not need to be stored in the refrigerator.
2. The breast milk which is stored in a thermos and given ice cubes can last up to 24 hours.
3. The breast milk which is pumped and then stored to be consumed 72 hours after pumping can be stored in a refrigerator (below 5o Celsius but not in a frozen state).
4. The breast milk which is pumped and then stored to be consumed 3 months after pumping can be stored in the top of the refrigerator (freezer), then frozen in temperatures below -18o Celsius. With this particular storage, the breast milk can be frozen up to 6 months. This is usually done when a mother will go in a certain period of time and for a long time, so it is necessary to pump the breast milk before leaving her baby.
5. Do not forget to put the label every time Mommy wants to store a bottle with the date and time of pumping to determine the storage length of the breast milk.

Freezing the breast milk can actually damage some antibodies in the milk; therefore, whenever possible, the baby needs to consume fresh breast milk in the absence of certain conditions which require the breast milk storage.