Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations were the topic of a prior post on baby gooroo®. TSA currently limits the amount of liquids, gels, or aerosols passengers can bring into the cabin of the airplane.

When passengers are traveling with a baby or young child, the limits do not apply to breastmilk, baby formula, or juice. However, passengers traveling without a baby or young child and transporting breastmilk, formula, or juice, must meet the requirements for carrying liquids, gels and aerosols (3-1-1).

So when a breastfeeding mother from Akron, Ohio, was faced with the dilemma of how to transport her milk in the absence of her baby, she contacted International Board Certified Lactation Consultant Linda Smith for advice. Smith suggested she ask her baby’s pediatric care provider to write a letter of “medical necessity” - her milk is medically necessary for her baby.

With the letter in one hand and a cooler of breastmilk in the other, the mother was allowed to bring the milk on board.

A copy of the letter, shared with permission, follows.

To Whom It May Concern,

Insert Doctor’s Name adheres to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines and policy statements on Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk.

Insert Baby’s Name is our infant patient who currently receives breastmilk from his-her mother as the sole source of nutrition. Insert Mother’s Name employment requires her to travel by air. Given this, she must manually express her breasts to supply her baby with appropriate amounts of breastmilk and transport it with her on the airlines.

Insert Doctor’s Name advises that Insert Mother’s Name be permitted to keep her expressed breastmilk in her possession during travel in order to provide safe and adequate storage, which is essential to achievement of optimal infant health.

Sincerely,

Insert Doctor’s Signature

Reference: Gartner LM, Morton J, Lawrence RA, et al. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics. Feb 2005;115(2):496-506.

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/pediatrics;115/2/496. pdf