Supporting Breastfeeding: Resources and Guidelines

Human breast milk is important for babies. It gives them the nutrients they need to grow strong and fight infection. It also helps to create a bond between mother and baby.

If you breastfeed your baby at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, you may need to pump (express) your breast milk and store it for later. It is important to store it the right way so that it is safe for your baby to drink. 

St. Jude can give you the resources and support you need to breastfeed, pump, and store your breast milk safely.

Services we provide

When you are visiting for the day

Mother’s Rooms are for patient families who are visiting for the day. You can use these rooms to breastfeed your baby. You can also use these rooms to pump your breast milk. Each room contains a double electric pump. This pump lets mothers pump milk from both breasts at the same time.

Mother’s Rooms are available in Family Commons: Ask Security or someone at the front desk to unlock this room.

You should bring a cooler or insulated bag to store breast milk safely. Use ice packs to keep the milk cold.

When your child is in the hospital

When you get to St. Jude, tell a nurse that you are breastfeeding. The hospital can give you a breast pump and sterilized bottles to use while your child is in the hospital.  

Let your child’s care team know if you need to store your breast milk. 

A nurse will give you pre-printed labels to put on your bottles. These labels will have:

• Your child’s name
• Your child’s medical record number
• The date and time the milk was pumped 

You can get these labels from the nursing station. They can also be delivered to your child’s room.

You should put 1 label on each bottle. 

Guidelines for storing breast milk:

1. Wash your hands with soap and water. 
2. Pour the breast milk into a sterilized bottle. If you did not bring sterilized bottles with you or do not have a sterilized bottle, nurses will give you 2-ounce or 8-ounce bottles.
3. Put 1 pre-printed label on each bottle. 
4. Leave about 1 inch (2.54 cm) of space at the top of the bottle.
   • This space gives the breast milk room to expand if you freeze it. 
   • If the breast milk will be used within 48 hours, it is best not to freeze it.
5. A nurse will put the bottle in the nursing unit’s medicine room. It can be stored there for up to 48 hours. 
6. To avoid waste, freeze breast milk in amounts of 2–4 ounces (60–120 ml).
7. The Nutrition Lab technician will pick up breast milk that needs to be frozen.

Thawing breast milk

Use one of 3 methods to thaw frozen breast milk: 

• Hold the container under cool, running water until the breast milk reaches room temperature.
• Place the breast milk in the refrigerator to thaw gradually. Label the container with the expiration date.  
• Warm thawed or frozen breast milk in the electric warmer on each inpatient floor. Follow the instructions attached to the warmer.

Never heat breast milk in a microwave.

You can refrigerate previously frozen, thawed breast milk for up to 24 hours. But, if the thawed breast milk is for a baby with a weak immune system and the breast milk has been at room temperature, you should throw it away within 1 hour. 

Do not freeze breast milk twice.

Extra storage

Breast milk can be stored in a secure freezer in the Nutrition Lab when all other storage areas are full. If you need this storage, contact your dietitian. 

Breast milk stored in the Nutrition lab must stay frozen. After the breast milk has thawed, do not re-freeze it. When your child is discharged, the dietitian will talk to you about whether your extra breast milk should be:

• Sent home
• Thrown away
• Donated to a milk bank. If you choose to donate your breast milk, you must give permission to send the milk to an approved milk bank. The dietitian can help you start the donation process. Nutrition Lab staff will remove the breast milk from storage and send it to the milk bank. Learn more.

Donor breast milk

St. Jude supports the use of donated milk when needed. Babies who benefit from donated milk may include those who:

• Weigh less than 1500 g at birth
• Have serious intestinal problems 
• Do not get enough nutrition from their mother's milk   

The donor milk that St. Jude uses must be pasteurized and comes from banks that follow the rules of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA). Any fortifiers made from human milk will also be pasteurized. 

We recommend using only breast milk from safe, regulated milk banks. Talk with your child’s care team about milk donations from other milk banks.

Fresh or thawed pasteurized donor milk can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. When donor milk is thawed after freezing, the expiration date should be recorded on the label 48 hours after thawing.

Learn more

To learn more about breastfeeding or pumping and storing breast milk, call the St. Jude lactation specialist at 901-595-3318. Toll-free:  1-866-278-5833, extension 3318.