If You're Pumping, You Need to Read This: Realistic Breastmilk Storage Guidelines

"Particularly for moms who work outside the home and pump, or pump exclusively for other reasons, following the CDC’s guidelines for breast milk storage can lead to many tears over spilled (wasted) milk. In fact, a 2026 preprint study (not yet peer-reviewed) found that 46% of surveyed parents pitched leftover pumped milk daily.

In a deep dive for her popular ParentData website (behind a paywall but accessible with a 7-day free trial), Harvard-trained economist and bestselling author of Expecting Better, Cribsheet, The Family Firm, and The Unexpected, Emily Oster argued that current guidelines are unnecessarily restrictive and could safely be loosened based on the available research. While the CDC recommendations are specifically intended to prevent bacterial growth in breastmilk, in a post on X, Oster labeled them 'way too cautious.'" 

Read the rest in my article on breastmilk storage guidelines for Natural Womanhood.

The episode I did on this:

www.postpartumonpurpose.com

Ep 84: Stop Throwing Away All That Pumped Milk!

Lady, this episode wouldn't have come to be if it were up to me because I haven't pumped at all since my 9-month-old was born. But I recently was asked to write up ParentData founder Emily Oster's deep dive on safe breastmilk storage and why the CDC's guidelines about when to throw it away are likely far stricter than necessary. In this episode, I shared the reason behind the CDC's (over)abundance of caution + practicals like what the research says on how long freshly pumped milk vs. previously