Breastfeeding

Storing and Transporting Human Milk for Hospitalized Infants

Storage	Will Remain Fresh For:
Home freezer	3 months
Deep freezer	6-12 months
Fresh milk in refrigerator	48 hours
Thawed milk in refrigerator	24 hours
Thawed pasteurized donor milk	48 hours
Fortified milk in refrigerator	24 hours
Fresh milk in a cooler with ice packs	No more than 24 hours

Store human milk in sterile food grade plastic bottles with lids. Do not use storage bags. Storage bottles are available on nursing units in the hospital.
If more than one bottle is needed to store milk at each pumping, carefully mix the entire amount of pumped milk from each breast before placing it in the refrigerator or freezer.
Leave space in the bottle for milk to expand during freezing.
Label bottles with the baby's name, medical record number, date and time of pumping, and any medicines or herbal supplements mother is taking.
Refrigerate milk right after pumping. Freeze milk that will not be used within 48 hours.

Carrying human milk to or from the hospital:
Keep refrigerated milk chilled during transport to or from the hospital.
Frozen milk must remain frozen during transport. Place bottles in a cooler with freezer gel packs (NOT ice) or several bottles of frozen milk.
Promptly place fresh or frozen milk in the refrigerator or freezer upon arrival.
Contact Us

For additional information on this Health Topic, call the Center for Breastfeeding Medicine at 513-636-2326.

Rev. 5/09