- How do I transport my colostrum to the hospital? -
This question pops into my DMs regularly and I’ve had my prior suggestions, but it was truly this "in real life" experience that won me over and solidified my advice.
With the delivery of baby number five and the third time I’ve collected colostrum in preparation for delivery, you’d think I’d have this dialed in to a T, right? Unfortunately, not really. If I don’t write it down I won’t remember at all, and if I don’t document specifics I definitely won't remember the play-by-play details. So let’s rewind before I get into the fun facts on how to actually keep your colostrum frozen for a longer period of time.
My first two singletons were born in 2020 and 2022, both times I was prepared to feed colostrum post delivery. Both baby girls received colostrum but I am confident that what they didn’t eat went in the trash. I knew how to get it to the hospital, but what I neglected was what to do with it once I got to the hospital. I remember my husband grabbing a syringe of colostrum and sticking it in his pocket to have on hand after singleton baby number one was born, which I did feed in the recovery room. Singleton baby number two also received colostrum, but it wasn’t until we were into our room and after I found a lull in my supply, did I need to feed that colostrum. After both initial feedings two years apart, the remainder of my colostrum went straight in the trash because I wasn’t proactive at keeping it frozen and I didn’t pack it properly for long-term freezing.
How Did I Transport These Syringes of Colostrum?
I did what any level thinking mom would do, pop those colostrum syringes in a cooler with a bunch of ice packs for added protection. What I didn’t think about what how challenging it would be to keep literal ice cubes frozen, because that’s exactly what I was trying to do.
It's so important to keep this minor detail in mind if you are going to use a cooler to transport small volumes of colostrum. It’s absolutely necessary to pack this cooler as tightly as possible minimizing any open air pockets. When you consider what you are trying to keep frozen it begins to make more sense, especially when compared to larger volumes of milk in milk storage bags or bottles. Do I love a handy cute little cooler? Sure do! But not for colostrum traveling, unless you’re going to ask your provider to place the bag of colostrum syringes, not the cooler, into the freezer for safe and long-term keeping.
In My Experience...
This time around, while anxiously awaiting baby number five’s arrival, I thought my water had broken. So naturally I was ready for action, I tossed my colostrum in a cooler, added 3 ice packs, grabbed my hospital bag and headed to deliver this baby!
To spare you the details I’ll just cut to the chase, my water never broke and I lost all of my colostrum in the three hours I was gone. First thing, I didn’t expect that my colostrum would thaw out so quickly, especially because I had tossed in three extra ice packs! Secondly, I wasn’t prepared for the time it took to triage me and end up with an unexpected referral back to my couch. Things may have ended differently if my water actually broke, then I would have likely asked my nurse to pop my colostrum in the freezer while it was go time. Since this was a series of unexpected events, I definitely didn’t have my colostrum on the forefront of my mind. So here we are, no delivered baby and thawed colostrum, bittersweet for me. Thankfully I am able to express colostrum rather quickly so as much as this hurt - tossing my colostrum - it was also a learning experience that I can now share more on.
How I Did it Differently for Our Actual Delivery?
Two days earlier I had learned I only massively peed my pants, so the night before my scheduled c-section I had hand expressed another 15mls of colostrum. I froze these 15mls and I knew I needed to transport it differently this time around! Here’s what I did!
Previously to all of this I had a conversation with my friend Lisa Myers, the founder of Ceres Chill. She mentioned kindly, "if you used my chiller your colostrum would have stayed frozen". To this I had kindly answered back, "you think? I feel it would be difficult to keep the colostrum frozen". It’s no secret that I had my doubts that the Ceres Chiller would in fact keep my colostrum frozen, but what did I have to lose, I already had one failed attempt. When I think of the Ceres Chiller, bulletproof fresh milk storage comes to mind, not frozen colostrum.
So here we are, it is delivery day, I have 15mls of frozen colostrum and an empty Ceres Chiller I had to make work. I filled the outer chamber of the chiller up with 3 cups of water and 3 cups of crushed ice. I feel the crushed ice was imperative to adding the max about of ice possible. I then topped the ice off with three cups of water, popped the empty inner chamber into the chiller, added my frozen colostrum syringes to the inner chamber, and headed out the door. It was baby time.
Upon being checked in and prepped for delivery, I had asked my nurse to put my colostrum in the freezer. I gave her several of tubes out of the inner chamber of the Ceres Chiller but kept a few back to use following delivery if necessary. Plus, I wanted to see how long they’d stay frozen.
It wasn’t until several hours after delivery I found myself reaching for that transported colostrum. I am pleased to inform you that the colostrum was still in-fact frozen, hours later. Unfortunately I cannot confidently tell you how many hours this was. Considering I was in the thick of it, post c-section, keeping my new little dude happy and fed, this science experiment wasn’t at the top of my priority list. Not to worry, once I got home I really did put it to the test! I dedicated another day of my life to chiller science, this is important stuff, we need to get the facts!
The Science Experiment
Outer Original Chiller contained 3 cups of crushed ice and 3 cups of water
Inner Chamber held 5 silicone colostrum syringes of frozen milk. Over the next 7 hours I logged the temperature of the outer chamber ice/water mix and whether or not the syringes of colostrum stayed frozen. Each syringe was filled with 5mls of colostrum, syringe number 5 was about only half filled.
|
time |
Syringe 1 |
Syringe 2 |
Syringe 3 |
Syringe 4 |
Syringe 5 |
|
12:30p |
F |
F |
F |
F |
F |
|
1:30P 30.1F |
F |
F |
F |
F |
F |
|
2:30P 29.9F |
F |
F |
F |
F |
Least volume, broke into two portions |
|
3:30P 29.9F |
F |
F |
F |
F |
SEMI SLUSH |
|
4:30P 29.9F |
F |
F |
F |
F |
SEMI SLUSH |
|
5:30P 29.9F |
F |
F |
F |
F |
SEMI SLUSH |
|
6:44P 30F |
F |
SEMI SLUSH |
SEMI SLUSH |
F |
SEMI SLUSH |
|
7:35P 30F |
SEMI SLUSH |
SEMI SLUSH |
SEMI SLUSH |
SEMI SLUSH |
SEMI SLUSH |
F- 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻 Semi Slush- 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘄
7 hour test
To say I was shocked is an understatement, I was not expecting these results. I should have believed Lisa when she told me it would hold up, that woman takes breast milk storage more seriously than anyone I have ever met in my life.
My conclusion and word to the wise, we are finding ways to keep mini 5ml ice cubes frozen - when you say it out loud it sounds ridiculous. But that's the reality, these little ml syringes of colostrum need to stay frozen for as long as possible. I am happy to share that the Ceres Chill can in fact check this box off, too! One thing I would highly recommend, which in all honesty is a little different than I normally share, is to freeze in volumes of 5mls as anything less is difficult to keep frozen. However! If you know you’ll be able to transfer to a freezer at your birthing facility or home, then freezing in smaller increments is still favorable!
Colostrum, Transitional and Mature Milk all follow the same guidelines!
This was not intended as a means to make a sale, but as long as the Ceres Chill continues to kick ass and prove itself as a valuable breastfeeding companion, I’ll continue to share. If you’re interested, use Bemybreastfriend15 at checkout for 15% off at cereschill.com or find it on Amazon for fast Prime shipping!
Looking for more guidance on antenatal colostrum harvesting? Check out this self guided instant download!
