I donated my placenta, why not my milk? Ok, seriously though, I really wish this is something that had occurred to me when I had my first son. I really had no reason not to...
If you are not familiar with milk donation, I'll give a brief overview. There are several milk banks throughout the country, though there aren't even enough to have one per state. There are 12 milk banks that are members of HMBANA, or Human Milk Banking Association of North America. One of those banks is in Canada, the rest in the US. Milk banks work kinda like blood banks. They accept breast milk, pasteurize and test it, and then it gets packaged and stored where it is prescribed to babies in need. The babies that get preference are premature and ill babies primarily those in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). A prescription can be obtained for babies from pediatricians, however, this is not easy or cheap since there is such a high demand. Even though the American Academy of Pediatrics says that breast milk from another mother (if the mom can't nurse or pump her own milk for her baby) is a better feeding/nutrition option for babies than formula, most women are unable to obtain donated milk because there is such a low supply and a very high demand. The rate of preterm births is rising, but the number of donors is not, so the demand is even higher.
Milk donation is nothing new to me. Well, new for me actually doing it, but the concept is not new. I've known since I was a kid that my mom donated breast milk. Way back 35 years ago or so, my mom was asked to donate milk. She expressed and donated when two of my older sisters were babies (at separate times, they aren't twins). Back then, she said it worked kinda opposite of what we think of the milk man doing. In her case, they picked up the full bottles and dropped off the empty ones. My mom actually hand expressed her milk, something I can't imagine doing and I'm glad I don't have to, but apparently back then, hand expressing was much more efficient that using her manual pump that had a very small collection chamber.
In looking at the nursing relationship I had with my first son, I realized that I might have had some oversupply. He spit up copious amounts (which I'm sure you've read about if you've been following my blog) but still managed to be growing at the top of the charts. I also was able to pump a decent amount in one sitting and didn't realize until much later that most people typically pump less than I had been yielding. I decided that next time around, I would look into donating since as long as you keep pumping, your body will make more milk. It's just a matter of maximizing production.
When I got pregnant with my second, I started looking up information on donating milk and contacted the closest milk bank to me to find out what I would need to do. I had to wait until the baby was born - they wanted to make sure a good breastfeeding relationship had been established. After that point, I was able to start the screening process.
I was telling a friend the other day that I can understand to a certain extent why there aren't a ton of people that donate. It can be difficult. There are strict habits that need to be maintained. Not only do you have to pass the screening process (phone interview and questionnaire packet complete with forms to be signed by your OB as well as the baby's pediatrician) and blood work (which thankfully, they pay for); but you also have to adhere to strict rules about certain foods (or food components) to avoid - like large amounts of caffeine - medications or herbs you need to avoid (which is basically all of them with the exception of multi-vitamins or prenatals), and practices with how exactly you need to pump,what containers to use, and how to maintain your pump parts and collection bottles. It's a lot to remember and takes dedication. I still think it's worth it.
For the milk bank I'm working with, the initial donation is 100 oz. which is just under a gallon. After your initial donation, you can donate as much and as often as you like before your baby is a year old. Because the milk is primarily given to babies in the NICU, the nutritional components of your milk have to be closer to what a young baby would need and since it changes as your baby grows, the nutritional composition of milk for a nursing toddler is completely different than that of an infant, so there is a cut off point.
While I was waiting for all my paperwork to clear so I could pick up bottles to use for collection, I actually started donating to a local mom that I know that was having supply issues. Practices like this are normally not recommended since when you "casually share" there is no health screenings and it is unknown what you could be passing along. Typically if you know and trust the donor, however, there is the potential of less risk. In any case, it was nice to be able to help that mom out as well as work on increasing my supply since I was planning on donating anyway. I've recently had my blood drawn and I am waiting for the ok to drop off the milk I've collected up to this point. I actually ran out of bottles because I no longer was pumping for the mom I know (she was able to get her supply back up - yay!) so I ended up filling up the bottles faster than I anticipated.
I really do strongly urge any nursing mom who has a well established supply to look into donating. There is such a high demand and since you will make more milk to meet the demand, you won't be starving your baby, you'll just be making extra. It may be a bit of a pain or inconvenience, but it is so needed. More babies can be helped and if there are enough people that are willing to donate, the likelihood of babies being helped beyond the NICU is higher. I think all babies should benefit from breast milk and if for whatever reason they can't get it from their mom, it should be easier to get it from the milk bank than it currently is. The only way for that to happen is to have more women take the time to donate. Here is the link to HMBANA to find the milk bank closest to you and see what you can do to help: http://www.hmbana.org/
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