The International Breast Milk Project (IBMP) sounded so noble and noteworthy. Mother Jill Youse had extra breast milk stashed in the freezer and decided to pair with Prolacta Bioscience to ship donated breast milk to an orphanage in South Africa where the milk would be given to babies orphaned by AIDS.
Since the initial splash of positive publicity, however, the project has come under fire for questionable practices. Sure it’s nice that Prolacta processes and ships some breast milk donations for free, but it doesn’t ship all the donations or even a majority of the donations. It sells the remaining …read more

The story of Jill Youse’s donation of breast milk to an orphanage in South Africa has drawn greater attention to milk donation both domestically and internationally. Mothers considering milk donation within the United States should investigate their options carefully. Jennifer at The Lactivist called my attention to the discussion of Prolacta in the today’s Miami Herald. Prolacta is a for-profit company that processes breast milk donations and sells them for considerable profit. The article quotes one source:
“My big issue is that mothers are not being told that their milk is being sold for such a high amount,” said Katy Lebbing …read more