Bacteriological profile of expressed breast milk at the newborn unit of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret Kenya

Abstract

Background: Expressed breast milk (EBM) is defined as milk removed from a mother’s breast without an infant's mouth at her nipple. Mothers breast milk is not sterile and can be a vehicle for commensal and pathogenic microorganisms derived from the mother or the newborn unit environment leading to neonatal sepsis, a leading cause of neonatal mortality. Knowledge of the contaminants is of importance in trying to establish enhanced safety of the breast milk. Objectives: The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence and common bacterial contaminants of EBM. Design: A descriptive cross sectional Setting: Newborn Unit of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, Kenya. Participants: The study randomly sampled 170 mothers with babies admitted at the Newborn Unit of MTRH, expressing breast milk for the purpose of feeding their newborns Interventions: Collected breast milk samples were subjected to laboratory analysis, including culture, microbiology and biochemical tests. Outcome measures: contamination was defined as the presence of any type of bacteria while acceptable contamination was defined as Colony Forming Units of less than 1.0x104/ml. Results: 78.2% (n=133) of the EBM samples had bacterial contamination. The bacterial contaminants isolated include Staphylococcus epidermidis (54.9%), Staphylococcus aureus (42.1%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (2.3%), and Enterococcus sp. (0.8%). The CFU/ml on all the samples were less than 1.0x104/ml and, therefore, within acceptable limits. Multivariate analysis of both neonatal and maternal factors revealed, there was no statistically significant association with bacterial contamination of EBM (p>0.05). Conclusion: A significant proportion of the EBM at the NBU of MTRH has bacterial contamination but within acceptable limits. There was no statistically significant association between contamination and factors considered in this study.