Moms unfortunately are often encouraged to “build a freezer stash,” which can cause considerable anxiety for those who have lower production levels, and can increase production to unhealthy levels with other patients. All women who pump when unnecessary are at risk of developing mastitis, blebs, nipple trauma, and other complications.
It’s reasonable to keep a “back up” supply of breastmilk (and don’t ever discard milk you collect!) for when you need to be away from baby and are unable to express milk for this time. However, planning to give large quantities of frozen milk is less ideal. Freezing reduces the quantity of fat, calories, and macronutrients in milk.
More importantly, providing infants with breastmilk expressed several months or weeks prior means infants are getting antibodies (in reduced concentration) related to mom/infant exposures in the past — rather than current exposures. Feeding from the breast is always healthiest for mom and baby — followed by unrefrigerated fresh milk, refrigerated milk, and frozen milk.
