Donor Milk Instead Of Formula?

[lisaf]

lol, as for the bond with breastfeeding, let him go try and rip off someone else's nipples for a change

 

[lisaf]

I would use donor milk if my child had sensitivites to formula or if they were premie.

We have a milk bank in my area but it is SO restrictive. Even after passing all the tests for diseases etc, you can't take so much as an aspirin or stool softener or else they can't take your milk (which I understand since premies may be sensitive etc).

I actually AM milk-sharing right now. I have a huge oversupply and there is a woman in my area who helps out new mothers with lactation issues and will take any excess milk you have. I had over 1,000 ounces in the freezer. There was no way I was ever going to use it all. She is aware of any medications I was taking while storing that milk and passed the information on to the other mother. Its done anonymously through her though which is great. I'm so glad my milk didn't just go to waste (and what if we had a major power outage, it would have all be tossed!)

aspirin is dangerous for babies; although the chances are very small there is a possibility of them developing Reye's Syndrome even from aspirin via breastmilk-this is why it isn't advised for any BF mum in the UK to take aspirin at all (and it is not advised for under 16s to take it direct either) xx

I was just pulling aspirin out as an example, I believe the milk bank rejects milk if the mother has taken ANY medication including ibuprofen, and like I said stool softeners (which they hand out like candy at the hospital after giving birth, lol)

 

[summer rain]

I would choose donor milk anyday I would prefer it as well if I knew the donor; and in my religious faith anonymous milk donation isn't actually allowed because there is a whole system of kinship ties which go with it xx

 

[lisaf]

I think they do it anonymously through my lactation consultant to avoid lawsuits... or even just an akward meeting if they recognize your name, lol.

 

[summer rain]

I know most NHS milk donation here is anonymous also; but private milk sharing agreements in the UK are usually not, they are usually arranged one-to-one between the two parties xx

 

[midori1999]

If I had not been able to breastfeed for whatever reason I would have ff,the thought of giving my baby somebody elses milk seems strange to me.
I know that we drink cows milk but it seems different in a strange way.

Im also wierd in that I would happily offer my breastmilk to another baby if needed,where I would be funny about accepting another womans for my child.Im a bit of a hypocrite I suppose

^wss lol

i would love to donate my milk but my local hospital wont take it. i make alot of milk and find expressing easy

If you have excess milk or a freezer stash, you can post on the Human Milk for Human Babies UK Facebook page and someone may well need it.

Or your nearest Milk Bank may collect it? (obviously you need to be screened for this)

 

[smokey]

I would give him donor milk if it was from someone I knew ie like having your own wet nurse but I couldnt bare him to be breastfed by someone else so it would have to be expressed (makes it soound like im planning on keeping a woman chained up in the basement attached to a milking machine) .
Im realy not sure about donor banks though, it just feels odd to me the idea of feeding him some strangers milk and I dont know where it came from.
If he was in NICU though id use donor milk.
Id never even heard of donor banks untill LO was about 2 months old and even then I only realy knew of the term but nothing about what they do, where they are or anything about them

 

[freckleonear]

Yes I would definitely use donor milk. If for any reason I was ever unable to breastfeed then I do not want my children to ever have formula. My husband knows my wishes in case something ever happens to me. I have no problem with someone wet nursing my child either, in fact as patch2006uk pointed out it would have benefits for the baby. Milk sharing can be very safe when done properly and I'm glad that more people have become aware of it over the last year and a half, I hope it continues to gain acceptance in our society.

 

[Laura2919]

I was aware of donor milk as our NNU had a sign up when we were in there.

But no, I wouldnt accept somebody elses milk. I chose to express and when that didnt work nothing else was an option to me but formula, for my own reasons

 

[Blah11]

I'd rather my baby had human milk, atleast for the first few months. However, it's sooooo expensive and not really available

my order of preference is..

breastfeed
my own expressed milk
donated milk via bottle
formula


still unsure if I'd let someone else BF my child. I've said I would in the past but idk, i guess because ive done it already and I know how special the time is, i'd feel sooooo jealous if someone else did it with my kid.

 

[patch2006uk]

I'd rather my baby had human milk, atleast for the first few months. However, it's sooooo expensive and not really available

my order of preference is..

breastfeed
my own expressed milk
donated milk via bottle
formula


still unsure if I'd let someone else BF my child. I've said I would in the past but idk, i guess because ive done it already and I know how special the time is, i'd feel sooooo jealous if someone else did it with my kid.

I believe that's the order of preference the WHO has as well

 

[Natsku]

Maria had doner milk in SCBU and then in the ward for top ups when she was with me. I had no problem with that and if I wasn't able to breastfeed I'd rather she continued to have doner milk if I was able to get it.
Not sure how I'd feel about someone else breastfeeding her though, but I would have no problem breastfeeding another baby.

 

[mrs_park]

I may be wrong but I'm not aware of any donor milk organizations here in Aust. I asked mum about it and when she had me, they asked her to donate some milk to the premie babies as she had a oversupply. Apparently this practice was shortly after banned due to AIDS fears (this was in the 80's)

I would be open to using donor milk if I couldn't bf but I'd feel funny about a wet-nurse

 

[Laura2919]

Ive not seen anything of it other than in NNU. Maybe thats really the only place they advertise..

 

[aliss]

It was $3/oz here so I couldn't afford it. It can be free in certain circumstances (ie. very early preemie) but mine was a term baby with a non-life threatening condition that prevented his feeding (acid reflux and broken collarbone) so formula was deemed good enough (as opposed to say a preemie or very ill baby with compromised immunity). Too bad!

 

[lisaf]

wish I could get paid for my milk, lol.. I'm happy to donate for free, but I've invested a lot of money in BFing (pump rental at first, then pump, breastfeeding pillow, and bags for freezing, lol)

 

[AppleBlossom]

I was aware of it. I suppose I would perhaps consider it in some instances but to be honest, formula isn't actually THAT bad that you should be avoiding it at all costs...

 

[midori1999]

I was aware of it. I suppose I would perhaps consider it in some instances but to be honest, formula isn't actually THAT bad that you should be avoiding it at all costs...

That's exactly the point though. It's not about 'avoiding formula at all costs', it's about the next, natural alternative to a mother's own breastmilk.

Formula is an adequate breastmilk substitute, but it should be just that ideally, a substitute for when women are unable to or do not wish to breastfeed. Instead, it is seen as a perfectly acceptable alternative to breastmilk and in fact, in one survey 30% of the population thought formula was as good as, or better than breastmilk.

 

[summer rain]

I was aware of it. I suppose I would perhaps consider it in some instances but to be honest, formula isn't actually THAT bad that you should be avoiding it at all costs...

That's exactly the point though. It's not about 'avoiding formula at all costs', it's about the next, natural alternative to a mother's own breastmilk.

Formula is an adequate breastmilk substitute, but it should be just that ideally, a substitute for when women are unable to or do not wish to breastfeed. Instead, it is seen as a perfectly acceptable alternative to breastmilk and in fact, in one survey 30% of the population thought formula was as good as, or better than breastmilk.

I have heard anecdotally that some women believe aptamil to even contain powdered breastmilk

 

[patch2006uk]

I was aware of it. I suppose I would perhaps consider it in some instances but to be honest, formula isn't actually THAT bad that you should be avoiding it at all costs...

That's exactly the point though. It's not about 'avoiding formula at all costs', it's about the next, natural alternative to a mother's own breastmilk.

Formula is an adequate breastmilk substitute, but it should be just that ideally, a substitute for when women are unable to or do not wish to breastfeed. Instead, it is seen as a perfectly acceptable alternative to breastmilk and in fact, in one survey 30% of the population thought formula was as good as, or better than breastmilk.

I have heard anecdotally that some women believe aptamil to even contain powdered breastmilk

Sometimes I despair! The claims aptamil make of being 'closest to breastmilk' don't exactly help though.