by Amy Spangler
February 23, 2007

I take pride in being a breastfeeding advocate as well as a Buckeye. So I was saddened to see a recent report about a child care center in Columbus, Ohio, that charged a mother an additional $50 a week because her 3-month-old infant was breastfed.

Reportedly, the child care staff told the mother that her milk was a hazardous body fluid. As such, it had to be stored in a separate refrigerator and reheated in a separate warming unit, hence the additional charges.

At first the mother was reluctant to complain because she needed a place to leave her baby. But now that she no longer depends on this particular center for child care, she is speaking up.

Ohio, like most states, has specific guidelines for the handling breast milk and infant formula in child care settings. None of the guidelines require special handling for human milk. Most concerning about the actions of this particular child care center is that it is predicated on misinformation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), human milk is not considered a body fluid, so special handling precautions are not required. Individuals who are frequently exposed to human milk, such as individuals who work in milk banks, may choose to wear gloves. But gloves can give wearers a false sense of security and increase the risk of contaminating the milk during the handling process.

The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) clearly states that occupational exposure to human milk has not been associated with transmission of HIV or other viruses sometimes found in human milk. More important than the use of gloves is the need for good hand-washing.

Knowing that combining breastfeeding and working can be challenging, many states, including Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Texas, now have guidelines for child care providers on how to support breastfeeding mothers and babies in child care settings.