title: From breast to baby: quality assurance for breast milk management.
abstract: Breast milk is a body fluid capable of transmitting blood-borne pathogens when ingested. High-risk infants are frequently fed mother's expressed breast milk and may be at risk if they receive the wrong mother's milk. A multidisciplinary team at this 42-bed Level III regional NICU developed a quality assurance program and audit aimed at reducing the risk of feeding expressed breast milk (EBM) to the wrong high-risk infant in the unit. Changes to the old system included modernizing the handling, storing, and distribution of EBM. Elimination of feeding errors was the priority. A specific protocol to minimize EBM feeding errors became part of the quality assurance program and is consistent with the recommendations of the NICU multidisciplinary team.
authors.affiliation: Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Women's College Campus, NICU, 76 Grenville Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1B2, Canada. dorothy.dougherty@swchsc.on.ca
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giles
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding; D002170:Canada; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000379:methods; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000451:nursing* / Q000592:standards*; D017749:Total Quality Management