Abstract Objective To study the bacterial culture results of expressed breast milk. Methods A total of 1178 expressed breast milk samples were collected for bacterial culture. The breast milk sampled from the mothers of preterm neonates (n=615) and term neonates (n=563) who were hospitalized between May 2014 and April 2015. Results There was no significant difference in bacterial counts between the preterm and term sample groups (P>0.05). Potential intestinal pathogens were found in 55 samples (4.63%) of the 1178 samples, with no significant difference between the preterm and term sample groups (P>0.05). The second expressed milk samples from 33 mothers were cultured. Only 10 samples (30%) were found to have the same bacteria as the first time. The detection rate of bacterial load of ≥ 105 CFU/mL was higher in those samples with potential intestinal pathogens, as compared with those samples without potential intestinal pathogens (43.64% vs 14.87%; PConclusions Breast milk is not sterile. Bacterial loads and phylotypes are variable. Random breast milk cultures can neither describe bacterial colonies in breast milk, nor be a predictor of neonatal infection.
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