Preventing contamination of breast pump kit attachments in the NICU

Abstract

Premature infants are at higher risk of infection because of their immature physiological status as well as environmental factors. The 2 principle sources of newborn infection are the nursery environment and the mother. There is limited information available regarding appropriate cleaning of breast pump attachments to minimize the risk of infection. The following article describes one hospital's efforts to minimize the risk of infections to the infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, that could result from ineffective cleaning of breast pump kit attachments used in the hospital. On the basis of the findings, the cleaning policy was revised for the neonatal intensive care unit.