Temperature curve of raw human milk heated by different methods: experimental study.
Ana Cristina Freitas de Vilhena Abrão, Gisele de Jesus Schmidt, Maria José Guardia Mattar and 4 others
PMID 38284617WHAT IT FOUND
Room temperature did not bring human milk close to body temperature in 60 minutes.
A 40°C water bath reached it in 5, 10 or 20 minutes; a 50% microwave reached it in 8, 10 or 25 seconds for some volumes, but small volumes risked overheating.
Key findings
01At room temperature, none of the volumes tested were close to body temperature at 60 minutes.
02In the water bath, 5 ml reached body temperature in 5 minutes, 10 ml to 30 ml in 10 minutes, and other volumes in 20 minutes; after this, temperatures tended to stabilize.
03With microwave heating at 50% power, 10 ml in a syringe varied from 27.7°C to 40.9°C between 5 and 8 seconds, exceeding body temperature.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The water bath experiment used 40°C, while the standard mentioned approximately 36°C, so the tested method was not exactly the recommended standard. No infants were studied, so the paper does not show that the warmed milk changed any newborn outcome. Milk quality, nutrients and bioactive properties were not measured, so reaching a temperature does not show the milk remained nutritionally or microbiologically acceptable. Microwave heating was not uniform, small volumes could exceed body temperature quickly, and container choice was questioned, so the method needs close control and monitoring. Water bath heating required matching water level to milk volume and could not use syringe-type containers, limiting practicality. The authors noted difficulty obtaining enough milk, matching water bath levels and limited literature on heating human milk.
Declared interests
Financial support came from Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação Científica (PIBIC, CNPq). The article does not report other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that these heating methods are proven safe or nutritionally sound for newborns. The study measured milk temperature only, not infant outcomes or nutrient loss, and microwave small volumes could exceed body temperature quickly.