TSA changes breastmilk-on-board policy.

Just a week ago I was talking with a mother about a trip she's planning for early next year. 

She pumps for her baby, and we were thinking through what she would need to do to get her breastmilk home.  I said something about how by the time she travels the rules may have changed.  Later, I thought to myself, "That's ridiculous, those rules will never change."

But I was wrong!

This week the Transportation Security Administration changed their rules about bringing breastmilk (and lighters?) on board.  Here's what the rules now say:

[Starting on August 4th, 2007] TSA is also modifying the rules associated with carrying breast milk through security checkpoints. Mothers flying with, and now without, their child will be permitted to bring breast milk in quantities greater than three ounces as long as it is declared for inspection at the security checkpoint.

Breast milk is in the same category as liquid medications.  Now, a mother flying without her child will be able to bring breast milk through the checkpoint, provided it is declared prior to screening.

The press release notes that the rule changes were a result of consultation with various security authorities and "the workforce."  Is it possible that this change was influenced by the petition we all signed and the press attention surrounding all those moms who had to dump their breastmilk before boarding?  The new policy does look a lot like the proposal on the petition nearly 6,000 of us signed.

Thanks to Jake Marcus at Birth Without Boundaries.  Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Blog?  Subscribe here.  Want an RSS feed? Click here.

Comments

[Mom in CA]

How are mothers keeping their breastmilk cold while traveling on planes? Wouldn't ice packs, etc. be considered a liquid?