For an update on this story, see this post for the story of Robin Neorr, a Columbus, Ohio mother who was charged more by her day care for serving her daughter breastmilk.
In an online discussion group I recently heard of a few cases of day care providers charging families more for serving babies pumped breastmilk than for feeding them formula. This was the first I'd heard of this practice, and I'm trying to figure out how widespread it is.
Has this happened to you or anyone you know? Please let me know by either leaving a comment below or sending me an email (see About page for email link).
I was floored when I heard about this issue. Here are just a few of the reasons why charging more for serving breastmilk is absurd:
It's safe and requires no special storage. The Centers on Disease Control (CDC) states that breastmilk is not considered a hazardous bodily fluid (something requiring "universal precautions" in health care-speak). As such, it requires no separate storage, protection, or handling by a child care provider.
It's easy. Breastmilk is no more complicated to serve than formula, and does not require mixing and measuring as formula does.
It saves them money. Babies receiving pumped milk are less likely to be sick, which means less disease spread among children in the center, and less absences for both babies and staff. This reduces a center's cost of operation.
Babies are happier and less messy at day care. Breastmilk is more easily digested than formula, so breastfed babies are less fussy, spit up less frequently, and have less diarrhea - all things you want to avoid if you are a day care provider.
If you're preparing to return to work and your baby will be in day care, here's a nice handout from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, for child care providers on meeting the needs of breastfed babies. My only complaint is that the storage time listed for milk kept in the refrigerator is way too conservative (it says 48 hours; Medela says 5-7 days).
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