After talking to my girlfriend the other day I realized that I needed to write a post about breast milk donations. So many of us breast-feeding mothers are pumping our brains out because we are either getting ready for or ARE currently back to work! Many of us have so much milk that we don't know what to do with.
Well, for those of you who feel strange throwing your "gold", as I call it, down the drain you can donate it and help a family looking to give their child breast milk. Or better yet, help a sick child in Haiti or a baby in the NICU.
I think by now most of know the benefits of breast milk especially during times of illness and disease. It's a powerful thing we are giving our children, so why not share our extras with others?
And if you bottle fed your last baby due to similar breast feeding problems, you can learn how to receive breast milk for your child {that is if you don't feel it's strange to be using another mother's milk}!
side note: Did you know that you could give your older child {or your husband or yourself} some of your breast milk {if currently breast feeding a baby} when they are sick? Might seem odd, but if you pump it and put it in a bottle or a cup, he/she will reap the antibody benefits!
ONLINE RESOURCES:
OK - AFTER THE COMMENT FROM AMANDA (BELOW) I DECIDED TO ADD THE NON-PROFIT MILK SHARE WEB SITE WITH EVERYBODY FIRST AND FOREMOST:
HMBANA - the network of NONPROFIT milk banks
Milk Share - read this to learn more about donations and to share/hear stories. Direct mother-to-mother site.
---------- Below are sites that are more controversial - because they may make a profit -----------
Milk In Mamas - help NICU babies - save a premature baby's life one donation at a time.
National Milk Bank - an actual milk bank. Become a donor today
Breast Milk Donations - useful for matching donors. finding a mom to donate and a mom in need.
BreastFeeding.com - helpful article about milk banks.
-------------------------------------- Below is info on Haiti and sending breast milk there ------------------
TIME MAGAZING article - says sending milk to Haiti isn't the best way to donate. But soon the infrastructure might become more efficient.
Breast Milk Project - kids in Haiti need breast milk and they are lacking suppliers. {again, might be the case, but we lack the means of efficiently getting babies the fresh milk}
Amanda
Almost all of these resources for donating (aside from the direct mother-to-mother sites - like milkshare) are actually Prolacta Bioscience, a controversial FOR-PROFIT company. I notice there is no link to HMBANA - the network of NONPROFIT milk banks. Any potential donors who may be reading need to be aware of this difference, especially since Prolacta has different websites/"banks" set up to collect for them. They are not always forthcoming with donors about how the milk is being used. Yes I know this because I signed up to be a donor 3 years ago, until I learned more about the company.
HMBANA.org has more info on donating to their NONPROFIT banks.
Also there has been a lot of info lately about why donating milk to Haiti is NOT a good idea. Check out this post for more info on that: http://www.sustainablemothering.com/2010/01/31/haiti-hell-good-intentions-and-breast-milk-donations/
Juli Novotny
@AMANDA - THANK YOU, THANK YOU! This is all so new to me. I wish I had done something like this in the past. I am not AGAINST the for-profit businesses. BUT, if there are non-profits now that do this, then AWESOME. Even better. Never even thought to look that up.
LOVE IT. Thank you for taking the time to write in about this matter.
--- Juli
Amanda
Hey no problem... I didn't know either and most people don't. It's amazing to want to donate milk, I just hope mamas make sure they know who they're donating to first 🙂 Great post