Maintaining Lactation During Travel
A breastfeeding mother traveling without her nursing infant or child who does not build a supply of milk to be fed in her absence can still maintain her milk supply while she is traveling. These efforts will help maintain her breastfeeding relationship for when she and her infant or child can be together again.
Milk expression approximately every 3-4 hours for infants less than 6 months old, less frequently for older infants and children, helps a mother maintain her milk supply and provides milk that she may choose to bring home for her infant or child. A mother who will be separated from her infant or child for a long period of time while traveling might have a difficult time maintaining lactation. In general, separation of a week or less does not pose a major problem for a mother wishing to maintain breastfeeding while separated from her infant or child. This time is more flexible as the child becomes older and complementary foods play a larger role in the child’s diet.
Depending on her destination, a mother may need to plan for milk expression without a reliable electrical power source. Expressing milk without an electrical power source is less reliable for maintaining milk supply over a long period of time than expressing milk with a hospital-grade electric breast pump. Intermittent milk expression can be successful with battery and manual breast pumps, as well as manual (hand) expression. Manual (hand) expression is the most hygienic way to collect milk. Mothers planning on travel to locations without reliable electrical power should learn and practice manual expression techniques well before travel is to begin.
The destination for travel can impact decisions for milk storage. Expressed milk should be stored in clean, tightly sealed containers. Any container that may be cleaned well with hot, soapy water and that seals tightly and reliably may be used. Once milk is cooled, a cold chain needs to be maintained until the milk is consumed. Refrigerated milk can subsequently be frozen; however, once frozen milk is fully thawed, it should be used within 1 hour.
Handling expressed breast milk does not require special medical precautions. Breast milk may be stored in any refrigerator or other location where other foods would be safe and may be stored with other foods. Breast milk requires no special labeling, it is not considered a biohazard, and the universal precautions for prevention of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and other bloodborne pathogens (known widely as “Universal Precautions”) do not apply to it.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention