Comments on: Milk-Sharing and Donor Milk Banks

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:44:49 +0000

I have very fatty breastmilk and have been approached by two other mom’s in my mom’s group who needed to bring their kids out of the “failure to thrive” risk area. My kids have both been very chubby babies, they don’t start out that way, but they gain weight and height very quickly while nursing, and then my oldest once weaned quickly moved from always in the 99% for height and weight into the 50 – 60% range for both. I’m still nursing the youngest, but I’m expecting the same result. I have people comment that I should sell my milk to third world countries, and my kids pediatrician actually said that I should donate my milk because it is apparently very rich. The kids that I did pump for very quickly moved out of the risk group and within only a week or two really started to gain weight and grow.
With my first child since she was a premie they had me pump at the hospital to get my milk flowing, and I kept pumping at home thinking I’d eventually use it, but I never did, so I checked into donating it, but it just seemed too difficult, with all the blood test…I am not an easy draw and usually take at least 3 tries. I was considering it for a few months when the problem was sadly solved by a power outage when all the milk defrosted.
I would consider it now, I feel like I should since my milk is obviously very fatty and really gives kids in need the jumpstart they nead, but they just make it so difficult to donate. I feel almost like I’m on trial for trying to donate, and just a copy of my doctors records aren’t enough. It’s sad really. I also was very put off by the fact that the Mom’s are charged for what I freely donate. I would much rather just give it to a Mom to use. However, that also has to be secretive as one mom was told by the pediatrician that it is not okay to get milk from someone else, even someone you know, unless it’s processed, and all the other test. She however ignored this.
It is a lot of work to pump, especially with two small kids, and it is not the most comfortable experience, so I do think that Moms should be re-imbursed for their efforts, not a lot of money, but just something that makes it seem like we aren’t just donating to a bank for them to turn around and sell it. Of course, for babies that I actually know, it’s always free and worth it to see how quickly they respond to the extra fat they need. One of the babies was a g-tube baby at the time, and one was a breast fed baby.
If it was easier to donate, I also would have no problem with donating directly to a local hospital fresh milk whenever they needed it, but there are just too many legal issues. It really is sad that we live in a world where they have to be this careful for the sake of the babies, I understand it to some degree, but it really just makes it really hard on the moms that would donate otherwise, like me. In the end, the ones that suffer are the babies, it really isn’t right, and they really need to rethink how all this is handled.

By: Breastfeeding 1-2-3 » On-line Auctions of Human Breast Milk

Breastfeeding 1-2-3 » On-line Auctions of Human Breast Milk — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:58:09 +0000

[...] Shortly after I wrote about the dangers of casual milk sharing and breast milk sales over the internet, I came across this internet advertisement: [...]

By: Angela

Angela — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:27:08 +0000

That’s interesting Ann! I wonder if nursing a friend’s baby feels weird due to an age difference between your nursling and your friend’s, or just that it’s not your own child. Thanks for sharing your experience!

By: Ann E. Mouse

Ann E. Mouse — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:05:43 +0000

I nursed my first until 2.5 (only weaned because I was about 4 months pregnant) and am currently nursing #2 who is 2 months and definitely my last baby and may nurse until he goes off to college. I’ve also nursed two other babies. One as a joke – her mom thought she’d never do it because she was already 18 months but the little darling loves the milk (she is 3 now and still nursing) and didn’t care what package it came in. I also nursed a friend’s baby on two different occasions when she wanted to go away for the day. I would give either of them pumped milk if they asked and I had some but I’ve only had it available au natural. It felt incredibly weird and, honestly, I was really uncomfortable and couldn’t wait for them to unlatch. I much prefer to nurse my own children. If I ever needed to supplement, I would definitely send out emails begging friends for any excess milk but probably wouldn’t be able to use it due to my childrens’ allergies. Sigh!