Help, my pump has mold! (sorry kind of gross)

kbell00

I have a Medela Pump in Style (the tote kind). I have had a lot of trouble with condensation in the tubes and today I noticed this weird pink-tinged condensation. I stopped pumping and inspected the actual pump. I then realized there were little black spots of mold growing inside the bottom of the tote. It looks like it started underneath where the pump actually is.

I called the Medela customer service line and the lady said they'd replace the pump. I dumped all of the milk I pumped today (16oz so far), which really sucks because I'm an EPer and already have supply problems.

This is the first time I noticed anything wrong so I'm not sure what to do. I'm sure some of my bottles touched the bottom of the bag where the black spots are.

Is sterilizing them in boiling water good enough or should I just dump those too? 

And what to do with my milk? I'm not sure when the problem actually started, since I never actually look underneath where the pump is. Should I just dump everything?

I'm seriously about to lose my mind. I have barely any freezer stash left, two bottles in the fridge and a manual pump to survive on. Any recommendations for formula if I end up needing to supplement over the next couple of days?

 

 

62406

I EP for the first 6 months then my supply tanked and we started using Up & Up (Target) version of Enfamil and have been very happy with it.  Good luck!

MrsPBNJ0220

I'm no pro at knowing about the pump, but I would not think since the milk does not actually touch the tubes I would think it should be fine.  I would think if you boil everything else you should be okay.

In the future if after each use, you pull the tubes off of the bottles and leave them connected to the pump and allow them to run pumping for 5 minutes it should keep them dry, for the next pump you get, if you take them up on the offer of replacing it.

ETA: My DS uses Neocate so I have no suggestion on formula, maybe the Similac Advance, blue label and you can get the Target version of that as well, but I am not sure if that's a specialty formula.  Again I don't know much about other formula's.

emilys629

No, don't dump the milk! Seriously, try and think of the issues as unrelated, because they are. No milk goes through the tubes, the mold shouldn't affect your milk at all.

kbell00

Thanks ladies! I feel better knowing I don't have to dump the rest of my supply. And thank you for the formula recommendations, I think I'll pick some up to supplement what's left of my supply.

mari_gold

I don't mean to scare you, but doesn't mold have airborne spores? You might want to boil any questionable milk before feeding it, just in case. That air would flow into the bottles as part of the pumping process.

emilys629

mari_gold:

I don't mean to scare you, but doesn't mold have airborne spores? You might want to boil any questionable milk before feeding it, just in case. That air would flow into the bottles as part of the pumping process.

 

Not sure about airborne spores, but you should never boil breastmilk. 

mari_gold

emilys629:

mari_gold:

I don't mean to scare you, but doesn't mold have airborne spores? You might want to boil any questionable milk before feeding it, just in case. That air would flow into the bottles as part of the pumping process.

 

Not sure about airborne spores, but you should never boil breastmilk. 

Yes, sorry, I meant scald.

LaRue86

You actually can boil breastmilk, it does kill some of the nutrients but you can do it. Eats on feets had an article about how to boil donor milk if received from an unknown source to eliminate AIDS. There are very specific guidelines for doing so.

I cannot find the original article, but I found this one on pasturizing BM. The original article stated that it is still more nutrient rich than formula.

 https://www.pronutrition.org/files/Pasteurized Breastmilk.txt