From frozen to feeding: storage characteristics of banked donor human milk used in a single level IV academic neonatal intensive care unit

TL;DR

This study measured how long donated human milk is stored before being used in a neonatal intensive care unit, finding an average of about 8 months.

Contribution

The study provides the first detailed analysis of DHM storage times at both hospital and patient levels in a single academic NICU.

Findings

DHM was stored on average 8 ±1 months before use.

Over 95% of DHM was stored longer than 6 months.

Storage times varied widely, from 119 to 317 days.

Abstract

The storage time of banked donor human milk (DHM) administered in an academic hospital to critically ill preterm neonates was previously unknown.

This study was designed to determine the storage time of banked DHM by measurements obtained at the hospital level (by lot finish date) and individual patient level (by feeding date) over 2-year observation period.

Both methods of measuring storage time (hospital-level and patient-level) showed that DHM was stored on average 8 ±1 months before use. Variations in storage time fluctuated across months with a minimum and maximum storage duration of 119 to 317 days. Most infants received a median of 3 [2–5 IQR] unique lots of DHM.

The storage time of DHM was successfully measured. Over 95% of DHM received was stored longer than 6 months. Storage times varied widely, uncovering a potential area of future research.