Microbiological Characterization of Human Milk

Abstract

Milk samples of five breast-feeding mothers were studied for bacterial population, flora, and source. In most instances, samples taken at postfeeding contained higher bacterial populations than prefeeding samples. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the predominant organism isolated from 100o/o of the samples. Increases were noticed in the appearance of Streptococcus mitis, Gaffkya tetragena, Streptococcus salivarius, Staphylococcus aureus, as well as Lactobacillus acidophilus. in the postfeeding samples. Main sources of bacteria were found to be the infant's mouth and maternal skin. Human milk is probably the most widely consumed food in the world. For many years physicians have agreed that breast-fed infants are more resistant to respiratory and gastrointestinal infections than bottle-fed children (4-7.9,19). Robinson found that both morbidity and mortality rates were reduced in breast-fed infants (14).