The Ins and Outs of Breastmilk Donation

It is my intent with the blog to educate about safe breast milk donation. Donor milk was the right avenue for my family after much prayer and research. I encourage you to do what is right for your family.

When it became apparent that I was not meeting my baby's needs I began to search for ways to up my production. I was trolling the internet researching galactogogues when I discovered Eats on Feets. I was a bit skeeved out about giving another woman's milk to my baby but it stuck in my mind while I attempted to ramp up my production.  On the advice of my lactation consultant, I saw my personal physician and had blood work to check thyroid, prolactin, and hemoglobin levels. It turns out I have an endocrine disorder which may be contributing to my low supply. While I am under treatment for this, I still need to feed my daughter. Ever since the Similac recall I am pretty paranoid about giving her formula. So begins our experience with breast milk donation.

First, I considered contacting our local milk bank Mothers Milk Bank of North Texas . Their process: a donor mom fills out a 10 page questionnaire about her lifestyle, health history, medication/drug/alcohol use. If she passes the written test (haha) they send her for blood testing to check for disease. They combine all the donated milk, and pasteurize it to help ensure safety. With 10 banks in the US and only one in Canada, the demand is very high, with 70% of their milk going to hospitals. Milk is issued in order of greatest medical necessity to babies with a doctor's prescription. Most insurers do not cover donor milk for a non hospitalized infant. If you are paying out of pocket, it costs 3-4$ PER OUNCE!!! My daughter needs an extra 8oz a day which worked out to 672$ a month. I quickly realized this was NOT in the budget.

On to plan B. I joined Eats on Feets TX, and Milkshare while continuing to research my options. During my research, I came across this video for flash heating breast milk. This is a method of home pasteurization being utilized in Africa by HIV+ mommies to prevent Mother To Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV.  This really allayed most of my safety concerns. Flash heating kills HIV and bacteria, but not hepatitis so it is always a good idea to have a look at a donor mom's pregnancy blood work. All donors are more than happy to provide this and if they are not, it should be a red flag. A recipient may also request a donor to have blood testing at the recipient's expense. Further, it is wise to ask a donor mom about their diet, lifestyle, medication, and illicit drug use (though to be honest, anyone taking the time away from their baby to pump extra milk for yours isn't likely to be getting high every chance they get). Everyone has their own comfort levels as far as what is acceptable to them. It helps to keep in mind that a donor mom is feeding her own baby the exact same milk you are receiving. Once I explained this to my husband, he was okay with this, though he later admitted he thought I was nuts. :S I posted a request on Eats on Feets thinking if it was meant to be, I would hear from someone.  A day or two later, I received a response from L, a local mama who had already been cleared by the milk bank. She has a daughter 2 weeks younger than mine. This is considered ideal because the milk evolves to suit the aging child. The day before Thanksgiving, she brought me 200 oz of frozen breast milk. I came to learn that many donor moms prefer to go through social network donor sites because they like to see the babies they are helping.  Many also do not feel good about donating to the milk bank and knowing some mom is having to pay such an exorbitant fee,

At first I kept this all a big secret from everyone but my husband but then it occurred to me that there might be other mommies out there who, like me, were feeling bad about their situations. So I decided to start raising some awareness about breast milk donation. On the whole, people are supportive and curious. There have been a couple of people who ask Why on Gods green earth would I give donor milk when formula is readily available? Well.....I just couldn't shake the fear that I was feeding my daughter something that might be hurting her. After the recall, I kept having this recurring image in my head of my tiny sweet baby daughter pooping live beetles. Gross! However, I realize my hangups dont excuse me from my daughter's safety. So I worked out my own game plan for donation. When I first talk to a donor mom, I ask about her diet, medications, drug and alcohol use. If we decide to get together, I will ask her to have a copy of her blood work for me to look over. (I also find out what kind of milk storage items she prefers and I bring some replacements with me). Of course, during the process we talk about our babies and share pictures. :) When we get together, I look at her and her baby....Are they healthy?  When we get home I store the milk in the deep freeze. When we are ready to use it, I carefully thaw it, then pasteurize it.

If breast milk donation interests you, please visit:
Eats on Feets Global 
Human Milk 4 Human Babies
Milkshare
Human Milk Bank of North America

FYI: Milkshare is similar to Eats on Feets and Human Milk 4 Human Babies though they are not as large, and there is a 20$ fee requested of recipients to help with administrative costs. As a general rule at informal milk sharing sites, there is no exchange of money for breast milk ever. It is up to the recipient to conduct your own screening.  A recipient should expect to compensate a donor mom for storage bags/bottles and all shipping costs if your donor mama is not local to you.
I hope I have helped educate about safe breast milk donation!!  Please leave any questions on the comment section. Many blessings!!!

Its called Liquid Gold for a reason

Hi yall Im back!!
I figured it was update time, seeing as its been quite a while since I blogged anything. I felt like it was a great time to put pen to paper so to speak, and just talk.

So....Ive been nursing Avery for 5 months. When she was about 2 months old I stopped being able to keep up with her demand....this is called Low Milk Supply. I had similar problems with Eva so now it is called Chronic Low Milk Supply. Ive tried EVERYTHING! I take supplements, drink teas, pump extra, tons of water.....I even took reglan for a few months. But sadly nothing helped. The wonderful Lactation Consultants at For Babies' Sake recommended I see my doctor to have some blood work checked and perhaps find a medical reason why I cant fully meet my baby's food needs. I go in tomorrow for that appointment. But in the meantime, Avery still needs to be fed. And I am anti formula. It has its place. Avery has had it in the past but still.....I am uncomfortable with it, especially given the recent Similac recall.

And with that, I have a confession to make. I have been supplementing Avery with donor mother's milk. Honestly, the difference between when she received formula supplement vs breastmilk supplements is huge! She smells waaay better for one! Secondly, she looks better...its hard to describe but her skin and hair just seem more beautiful and shiny looking. She seems happier. Her digestive system (AKA poop) is waaay better. She has been on donor milk since Thanksgiving and I am SO proud to have a baby who is 5 months old and is 100% breastfed.
But it certainly is not easy. The government is so quick to tell you Breast is Best....but then you are left to your own devices to figure out the rest. At first I considered contacting the milk bank but the demand here is very high. Since Avery is a) not a preemie, and b) not very sick, we would certainly be last in line. Then I would have to get a prescription from the pediatrician, and then it would cost 3-4$ PER OUNCE...if she even got any at all!!! I quickly calculated that Avery ate up to 8 oz extra per day. At 3$ an oz that is 24$ per bottle, 168$ a week, 672$ a month (pssht! thats more than my house payment!!) and a grand total of 8064$ A YEAR! And thats IF her demand didnt go up. You can see why plenty of families turn to formula. But this is important to me so I dug in and started researching. I discussed this with Kyle and right away he wanted to know how safe it was using donor milk. I researched it some more. I saw a video discussing a study done in Africa where HIV+ mommies were taught to express breast milk and then use a home pastuerization technique called flash heating. Most of the antibodies and such were retained, and this killed any bacteria, and the HIV virus!! Countless young lives will be saved by this method (often, mother to child transmission of HIV occurs through breastfeeding). Flash heating is really simple to do, no extra equipment needed. Also, virtually every mom in the US has blood testing done when they are pregnant. Part of the deal with being a donor is that you agree to provide your blood results at the recipients request, or they can also pay for a donor to undergo testing. Another thought to consider is that a donor mom is also feeding her baby the exact same milk you are receiving. And anyone going though the time consuming trouble of pumping extra milk is not likely to be getting high and trashed out every chance they get. I got Kyle on board, though I am sure he was a little weirded out but I felt so relieved to have his support.

Then I made contact with the facebook group Eats on Feets Texas. There are chapters in every state and all over the world. They are groups of mommies donating their extra milk to each other for free! I lurked in the group for a few weeks before I finally worked up the courage to post a request for milk. I admit I cried when I got a response from L. She is a mommy in my area who had a little girl only 2 weeks younger than mine (perfect! milk evolves to suit the aging child so it is ideal to have one close in age to yours). The day before Thanksgiving she gave me about 200 oz! That night in private, I got on my knees and thanked God for bringing this whole thing into my life because I (and Avery) were being blessed beyond measure. Since then I have met two other mommies, S, and M, and they have also blessed my baby. There is no way I could ever repay them back for this gift. I am forever grateful to them and humbled because I have realized it truly does take a village to raise a child.

So why would I talk about such a private, and seemingly bizarre thing? Simple really. Babies deserve mothers milk. It is what is best for them. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastmilk for the first 6 months of life, and continuing until age 2, or later if you want. Well.....I could only provide exclusive breastmilk for 2 months, and I know there are plenty more out there just like me. The demand is so high. Looking through all the posts requesting milk on the webpage, it is about 10 requests to every 1 offer. There just isnt enough to go around.......yet. So I figure if I tell my story, maybe, hopefully, prayerfully, someone out there will realize how truly blessed they can be in giving. Maybe one day we can have a whole huge network where no one has to stress out about giving the best to their baby.

I can only pray. :)

Links:
www.facebook.com/eats-on-feets-texas
www.milkshare.com




Ok you may need to copy and paste the links into your browser......I am not a computer whiz and cannot figure out how to make them active links. =)