Breast milk pasteuriser, England, c. 1980

Made:
1975-1980 in United Kingdom
Breast milk pasteuriser for hospital use (in special care baby

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Breast milk pasteuriser for hospital use (in special care baby
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Breast milk pasteuriser for hospital use (in special care baby units), made by Vickers Limited in the late 1970's.

Donated human milk can be sterilised using an automatic heat treatment unit such as this one. It is called the Oxford Human Milk Pasteuriser. Preparation, heating and cooling takes 100 minutes. This includes immersing the milk in a temperature-controlled water bath which heats the milk to around 63 degrees Celsius for half-an-hour. This Pasteurising process destroys infections such as E. coli or Staphylococcus, making the milk safe to use in special care baby units. With this machine, substantially more of the antimicrobial proteins in human milk are preserved as it uses a lower temperature and shorter heat treatment than normal pasteurisation.

The Department of Paediatrics at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford developed this unit in the late 1970s. It was manufactured by Vickers Medical of Basingstoke.

Details

Category:
Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Contraception
Object Number:
1998-234
Materials:
metal and plastic
Measurements:
overall: 1220 mm x 880 mm x 530 mm,
type:
breast milk pasteuriser
credit:
John Radcliffe Hospital, Department of Paediatrics