Mums-to-be ask, “Can breastmilk get contaminated?”
Everyone knows that breast milk is liquid gold. It has many benefits and is the best form of nutrition for your baby. But you don’t hear enough of how improper pumping and storing practices can lead to breastmilk contamination, which can be extremely dangerous for your baby.
Breastmilk contamination is not something you have to worry about if you only feed your baby by direct latching. While we wish we could, we all know that direct latching isn’t always an option, especially considering our fast-paced and hectic lifestyle. Singapore’s mums are always on the go and are usually pressed for time.
However, no matter how much of a rush, you must never compromise on hygiene and proper breastmilk storage. Bacterial breast milk contamination can have dire consequences.
Here’s what you need to know.
Table of Contents
How to Tell if Breastmilk Is Bad
You may be wondering how to tell if the refrigerated breast milk is bad. Here’s what you need to know:
First, look at the colour of your milk. If it’s darker than usual or has an odd smell, throw it out!
Second, check the temperature of your breast milk. If it feels warm or at room temperature, discard it! You should always keep your breast milk cold in the refrigerator (or an insulated bag) until you’re ready to use it.
Third, check for any signs of spoilage like mould growth or clumps that have formed near the surface of the container where your milk is stored. If you see these things, throw the whole thing away!
Image Source: iStock
Spoiled Breastmilk Appearance
When breast milk spoils, it turns into a thick or curdled substance that smells like sour milk. In some cases, it can even look like cottage cheese or yoghurt. This type of spoiled milk is unsafe for your baby—it contains harmful bacteria that could make them really sick or even cause them to die!
What Happens if Baby Drinks Spoiled Breast Milk
So what happens if your baby drinks spoiled breast milk?
Well, it depends on how spoiled it is. If you’re talking about a few hours past the expiration date, there shouldn’t be any issue—the milk should be fine to drink, as long as it’s below room temperature (which means it should be refrigerated).
But if it’s been sitting out for a few days or more, then bacteria could cause illness.
Spoiled Breastmilk Side Effects
If your baby gets spoiled breast milk, there is a chance that he or she could get sick. The most common symptom is diarrhoea, which can lead to dehydration. Other symptoms include vomiting and fever. Contact a doctor immediately or bring your child to the emergency room if your he has any of these symptoms after ingesting spoiled breast milk.
Bottles and frozen breast milk storage bags for new baby on wooden table
How Storage Causes Breastmilk Contamination
In this section, let’s discuss the possible causes of contamination and how to properly store breastmilk so they don’t go bad accidentally.
1. Moisture is a common culprit
We often worry about the germs and bacteria outside the containers where we store breastmilk. Well, what about the containers themselves? Breastmilk contamination can occur due to germs and bacteria in the storage containers!
Germs thrive where there is moisture. Most people diligently wash the breastmilk storage containers but overlook the importance of drying them. Because people assume that if it’s freshly washed, it’s clean.
If you leave the containers wet, the water in the container can cause bacteria and mould to form, leading to breastmilk contamination.
So here’s what you got to do. Step 1, use warm, soapy water to wash the containers. Step 2, use a clean towel (make sure it’s spotless) or a paper towel to dry the container completely.
Don’t leave the containers to dry in the sink because the used dishes or someone washing their hands could also cause contamination.
And the last thing you should ever do is to leave the breastmilk containers soaking in water in the sink. In an unfortunate and tragic incident, the bacteria led to breastmilk contamination, eventually costing a baby’s life!
2. Bags can tear
Many working mums opt for storage bags instead of containers. It seems like an easier option, considering there’s no washing and cleaning involved. It’s also easy to label the bags.
The danger of using such bags is that they can tear relatively easily, and you might not always notice the tear. The tear allows germs to enter the bag, leading to breastmilk contamination. So you’ve got to be careful there!
Check that there are no sharp objects or containers around the bag that could potentially puncture or tear it.
Also, if you’re using bags to store breastmilk, please ensure that you use bags specifically designed for breastmilk storage. These bags are free from BPA, a toxic chemical in most plastic items.
Regular plastic bags are not BPA free, and you should never store breastmilk in these bags.
In addition, do remember that milk expands as it freezes to avoid leakage or tears, don’t fill the bag to the right to the top. And push out excess air before you seal the bag.
Use proper bags that are meant for storing breast milk.
An alternative is to use glass jars to store breastmilk. In case you didn’t know, they are highly recommended as breastmilk contamination’s likeliness is far less than when using plastic containers.
Just ensure that the glass bottles are freezer-safe and that you warm or thaw the milk slowly as sudden, drastic temperature changes can cause the glass to break.
breast milk storage bags
3. Raw foods are bad news
Mums, I know you’re always rushing, and even I am guilty of pumping my milk, storing it and shoving the container into the fridge without looking closer.
Where there is raw food, there are bacteria and placing breastmilk near raw foods can lead to breastmilk contamination.
When raw meat comes into contact with the milk containers, it leaves bacteria on it. Likewise, if it is stored above the breastmilk, the blood can leak onto the containers and cause breastmilk contamination.
You might wonder how contamination occurs when the raw meat only comes into contact with the container and not the breastmilk itself.
When you reach for the container, your hands come into contact with the bacteria that transmit into the milk as you prepare it or transfer it into a bottle for your baby.
So as busy as you are, do take a moment to arrange the items in your fridge such that there is no raw food around, close to or directly above the breast milk containers. Trust me, it will save you from far more trouble!
If you are at work and are sharing the fridge with your colleagues, please place your breastmilk storage containers or bags in a secondary container to ensure they are well protected.
4. Don’t forget to clean your hands!
Again, I know how busy mums can get, so often, we forget to do the simplest yet most important things.
One thing you absolutely cannot forget to do is to wash your hands with warm water and soap. Don’t forget that your hands have a lot of bacteria, and you don’t want to pass that to your baby!
Do I even need to remind you just how much bacteria there is on your computer keyboard or handphone?
Your phone has more bacteria than you think.
Image source: iStock
5. Milk cubes, yay or nay?
Mums like to get innovative and creative. So they came up with this brilliant idea of freezing breastmilk in ice cube trays. This is a great idea for it allows you to thaw a cube or two according to your baby’s needs. Milk isn’t wasted, yay!
But nay to bacteria floating around the freezer! Your freezer is where raw meat is, meaning bacteria is omnipresent. Also, as mentioned earlier, don’t forget the blood leaking.
If you still want to go ahead and make milk cubes, ensure that you get the trays specifically designed for storing breastmilk. These trays have a locking lid to prevent breastmilk contamination.
6. Direct heating is a definite no
Mums usually know this, but the caregivers don’t necessarily do, so educating them is important. Even if your baby is hungry and screaming at the top of her lungs, you should NEVER microwave the milk for two reasons:
- it creates hotspots that could potentially burn your baby
- it kills immunological cells in the milk (this is explained in more detail later)
Transferring breastmilk to a saucepan can also cause contamination as these appliances may contain bacteria.
Always thaw the frozen milk. Run it under warm water and heat it gradually.
7. Freezing only happens once
I know how precious breastmilk is, and it’s heartbreaking to throw away the leftovers. However, the first time you freeze the milk, you are already breaking down important things like antibodies and vitamins. Imagine doing it a second time?
Losing these crucial elements also allows bacteria to grow in the milk.
You should only freeze milk once. You might refrigerate leftover milk only if it is never frozen.
Apart from breastmilk contamination, some storage practices aren’t ideal for breastmilk. Even if the milk doesn’t get contaminated, it is not in the optimum state it should be for your baby to consume.
ALSO READ:
How Much Breastmilk Should You Expect to Pump? An Ages and Stages Guide
Hypogalactia: What To Do When Your Breasts Don’t Make Milk
Best Pumping Bra in Singapore To Help Mamas On Their Breastfeeding Journey
Storage Practices That Aren’t Recommended
1. Prolonged freezing of milk
The fantastic thing about breastmilk is that its composition is constantly changing to adapt to the needs of your growing baby. Your baby’s needs change according to the stage she is at.
This means that the breastmilk you pump for a 3-month-old baby and a 5-month-old baby isn’t the same. The nutrients match the needs of your baby at the time of pumping.
Feeding your baby milk that was pumped months or even weeks ago means that you might not be meeting your child’s needs.
Another downside to freezing milk is that it drastically reduces its immunological cells. Immunological cells are part of the body’s immune system and transfer from your body’s immune system to your baby through breast milk.
These cells also break down at high temperatures, so you should never heat the milk too quickly.
Immunological cells are vital as they build your baby’s immune system and its ability to fight germs. Freezing and boiling breast milk endangers your baby by depriving the number of cells that develop their immune system.
2. Prolonged storage
Vitamin C is vital for babies – it forms red blood cells, tissues, and bones and boosts your baby’s immune system.
Even refrigerating your milk for 24 hours significantly reduces the amount of Vitamin C in your milk – by about one-third. This is a great loss!
Infants require 40mg of vitamin C daily for the first six months. After that, it goes up to 50mg.
Moreover, antioxidants that protect the body from disease by fighting the germs in the baby’s immune system are reduced when frozen. To preserve these, you should not refrigerate milk for more than 48 hours.
What to Do With Spoiled Breast Milk
The most obvious thing to do is to discard them.
We know that every drop counts for pumping mums. And you can search the web for creative ways to use spoiled breast milk like including it in your baby’s bath or making a lotion, or even a pendant out of it.
But unless you have an organised, foolproof way of storing the spoiled milk from the ones that are meant for consumption, we suggest you just throw the bad milk out and avoid risking your baby’s health. Better safe than sorry, mums.
There you go, mums. All you need to know is how improper pumping and storage can lead to contamination of breastmilk. I know how busy you are, but please don’t let all that hard work of pumping go to waste, or worse, endanger your baby because you overlooked some important things.
Image Source: iStock
Updates by Pheona Ilagan
Here at theAsianparent Singapore, it’s important for us to give information that is correct, significant, and timely. But this doesn’t serve as an alternative for medical advice or medical treatment. theAsianparent Singapore is not responsible for those that would choose to drink medicines based on information from our website. If you have any doubts, we recommend consulting your doctor for clearer information.