Lactating moms know how valuable every single drop of breast milk is. Jenifer Powers feels miserable because United Airlines didn't properly handle her 1,000 ounces of frozen breast milk, ultimately damaging the milk.
Powers was flying with her husband and three children, all below three years old, to relocate to a new job in Las Vegas from Houston. A shipment of frozen milk would cost $300 for 150 ounces, so 1,000 ounces would cost $2,000.
Powers claimed she followed all the rules regarding the matter, adding she had a printout of the airline's policy in tow when she arrived at the Houston airport. According to United Airlines' website,
"Passengers can bring on clearly-marked packages containing 5.5 pounds or less of dry ice as long as the package has proper ventilation to allow carbon dioxide gas to release."
Three employees from the airport claimed that dry ice is not allowed, and the Las Vegas mom just hoped that the breast milk would stay frozen during their three-hour flight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says frozen milk that started to thaw but still has ice crystals can be refrozen.
Powers got upset upon seeing her frozen milk disorganized and spilled
The milk was all packed together, according to the mom. Unfortunately, the milk didn't arrive on the same flight as the family as it should have. The frozen breast milk arrived several hours later at the Harry Reid Airport. When Powers opened the cooler, she found all the milk already slushy. She said it was obvious that someone touched the milk as it got disorganized even though she had carefully organized it, and some milk got spilled.
Powers got upset and panicked as the breast milk was for her premature-born twins, who spent approximately two months in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). She estimated that the milk would provide supplemental nourishment for the twins for 40 to 50 days. The mother noted that any nursing mom would understand her struggle as she thinks that pumping is an emotional process that she has to do for her twins, and it was purely emotional for her.
Parents reported that pumping is hard work as it involves effort when allowing the plastic flanges to milk one breast for more than 15 minutes. Those who exclusively pump need to do it every two to three hours to provide for the baby's necessities.
Calling for airline policy to be improved
Due to the incident, the mother posted an emotional post on Facebook narrating the experience and tagging the United Airlines page. After six days, United's corporate called her, telling her they saw her post and would call her back within 48 hours.
The upset mother wasn't actually planning to boycott the airline and would fly with them again but hoped that the airline would educate their employees so other mothers won't have to suffer the same issues in the future.
People need to understand that breast milk is essential to infants and should be treated like medication, KSNV NBC Las Vegas reported.
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