[~*sierra*~]

These two host ladies of a local mothering show were like horrified at the thought of donating breast milk. I really do not find this gross at all, i mean we donate our BLOOD! Why wouldnt we donate breast milk if we wanted to and their was a need for it?! i will never understand why boobies are so taboo.....

[Frozendesire]

What mother show was it?

[fromGirltoMommy]

I dont see anything wrong with it!

[Trannyfromtheuk]

I dont see anything wrong with other people doing it, But its not something i could do my self.

[Mars]

I don't see anything wrong with it. If someone else's breastmilk could help some baby or save it's life, then what's the problem?

[Angelaosaurus-rex]

Its just milk, just like cows milk or even formula. As long as the lady wasn't eating badly or a smoker or something I'd have no problem with it.

[Nami]

I for one, wish more ladies would do it. When I had my son I was unable to produce any milk at all and sadly there was no one in my area that was donating.

[bittersweet]

I don't see anything wrong with it, however, I would not donate milk or use donated milk for my baby. It's a fluid from someone else's body. I imagine they screen the milk/women. But since its not from a major organization like blood products are, I'd be paranoid about the screening. Plus I have no idea about the behaviors/diet of the women donating.

Getting a blood transfusion is not something you can compare donated breat milk too. It usually is for life saving purposes and there is no synthetic form. I don't think cows milk is a fair comparision either. Especially when organic is an option. You know the cow hasnt been living on In and Out Burger or smoking 2 packs a day.

Giving a baby breast milk isn't going to save its life. Formula fed babies are, on average, just as healthy. Yes there are more fomula fed babies who get allergies/infections, but most dont. I just can't see a good reason for giving my baby donated breast milk when there is formula that is great alternative without the body fluid risks. I wouldnt want a blood transfusion unless it was medically necessary. I just can't see why giving a baby donated breast milk would ever be medically necessary.

But with that said, I don't think it is wrong or bad, just not something I would ever consider.

[**jessie**]

haha Erin, I hope the cow hasn't been dining at In and Out Burger!

I do agree to some point though. I don't think I would be comfortable feeding my baby donated milk. I personally would much rather give formula (which is a very good, safe product). With that said, my freezer is nearly overflowing with frozen bm that I don't have a use for. I wish I knew somewhere that would take a bit of it... just because I think I will cry if it goes off and I have to throw it down the sink!

[~*sierra*~]

i agree with the whole thing that its a bodily fluid and should be screened/tested. i dont think there are any milk banks where i live, but i think it would be a good thing to have. i have actually seen people on kijiji looking to buy breastmilk. i felt bad for these people and wish they had more safe options. anywho of course everyone has their own prerogative about if they'd do/use it or not, but i was just like at least these ladies on the show could have presented both sides equally. you could tell they were just really grossed out by it. i think the show was called the mother show....hm i dont know for sure though.

ps. i just imagined a cow living on In N Out Burger and smoking 2 packs a day hehe

[Chelnae6]

It just depends on what kind of testing it goes thru. I would donate my milk, but I would be skeptical about receiving donated breast milk as I dont know what that woman has been taking into her body. And if my baby gets gas, constipation or an allergic reaction to it, I would have no idea of the particular substance in the breast milk caused my child to have such a reaction.

If its someone that I know, I'd be more willing to consider it if my child needed it and it was cheaper and I could not afford formula.

[Frozendesire]

Oh The Mom Show

I would go with formula over donated BM for my own children and I wouldn't donate my own. But with that said I don't think it's gross or anything even close to that!

[amazing_love]

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. However, personally i wouldn't give my baby donated breast milk.

Formula is fine, but even formula containers have the disclaimer that "breastmilk is best". Formula does its best to emulate the exact compounds and nutrients as breastmilk which would still make breastmilk superior to me.

Reid has had donated breastmilk form a friend that I knew personally (a JMer, actually). This person had been screened and donated regularly to a milk bank. I think that donating breastmilk is extremely generous and a wonderful, wonderful thing to do.

I wanted Reid on breastmilk for as long as possible. We were still nursing at home but I was not producing enough milk when I pumped at work. I was not keeping up with his needs. For the first month I relied on donated milk to supplement what I was missing for his bottles that were sent to daycare. Once my donated breastmilk stash ran out I started supplementing with formula and he eventually went on formula full time at 9.5 months. I have nothing wrong with formula but I would like to support any mom who would prefer to keep her child in breastmilk for as long as possible. It doesn't creep me out at all as long as it either comes from a bank where it is screened or a personal friend/family member.

There was a segment on the Today show about a dad who was raising his young baby on his own because his wife passed away shortly after giving birth. He knew that his wife had wanted to BF. Other local moms offered to nurse the newborn and they took turns coming to their home to feed the baby. The story brought me to tears. I thought it was wonderful.

[~*sierra*~]

yep it was the mom show.

how sweet that a fellow jm'er would donate for reid.......i love hearing about everyones thoughts on this!

[sara~b]

Bre, I think you gave a good example of where donated BM could help.

As long as I'm alive though, this baby will get my milk or formula. Gemma was exclusively formula fed and she's perfect. No allergies, no problems, not nothing. I plan to EBF this baby but if I can't then I will go with formula. I just can't stand the thought of someone else's body fluids being fed to my child. And cow's milk is pasteurized where as BM is not so I think there's always the risk of an infection being passed whether it's bodily-fluid related or just a cold/thrush/etc. Def not for me!

I thought it was a bit odd too until I was in a position where I needed it. I was not okay with giving Reid formula yet. I was so heartbroken that he wouldn't be getting BM and that we were nursing less and less. When my friend offered (who I knew was a regular donater and mades safe/healthy decisions) I didn't hesitate to say yes. The first time i went to thaw some of her stash I paused to think about it. It looked just like my own BM and I considered the facts. I will drink Odwalla (non-pasturized smoothie drinks) or consume cows milk (pasturized but a bodily fluid from an animal that stands in it's own manure...) but I'm weirded out by another mom's breastmilk? Breastmilk is such a rich, miraculous substance and I think it is kind of contradictory that we are okay with cows milk but not human milk. I'm pretty sure that 90% of those who say, "No way would I give my child someone else's milk!" would have the same answer even if it were pasturized and put through a production cycle like that of cow's milk. It's the stigma behind the human factor. If anything, I think that we should be more comfortable with human BM than cow or goat milk.

[soImarriedAnerd]

Bre you said exactly what I was going to say! LOL BM goes through more testing than an of the animal food/products we ingest on a daily basis, and it goes through more testing than blood even. Your safer giving your baby milkbank BM than Bloodbank blood. I think they do that because of the Western stigma of being from someone else.

I'm sure you all know but I donate my BM. And there ARE health reason why babies can't/shouldn't have formula...not a ton but there are I would 100% give London Donated BM over formula. The latest research showing how BM has stem cells in it, and more and more things that they just can't make in a formula. We probably will never know all of the stuff in BM, especially since it changes. I guess that just really seems like the thing to do for us....I make it for a reason so I guess I just want to go with natures flow I do this with alot of things though. LOL
The mom I donate to is a 5 yr clean of breast cancer, she had to have D/C when she was 13 weeks pregnant with twins, when she woke up from the surgery she noticed a bump in her breast..those twins saved her life really. So she has both breast removed, uterus, and ovaries. When she was 4 yrs clean she took her eggs and her hubbies sperm and had a family member carry her child. She is unable to BF and wants BM for her son. Her son also has a rectal sphincter issue that the DR want him on BM (because of the laxative properties).

Now with all that said....Breastmilk is like home grown green beans, we all know its best but we don't always do whats best. sometimes its just easier to grab the can of beans of the shelf Both will feed us. I know exercising a certain amount is best, but you don't see my butt in the gym! HAHAHA

[**jessie**]

Bre, I don't think anyone would criticize you for making whatever decision you think is best for your son. It's great you knew someone who was willing to donate milk to you.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that all donated milk from licensed milk banks is pooled together and pasteurized before being given out to the recipients. I didn't think raw milk is ever given out due to the potential risks, even with screening. Therefore it is very expensive to produce and a regular mom who just wants to give her LO BM cannot just go up and get some. I think it has to be prescribed by a doctor for a medical reason. Personally I wouldn't give raw donated BM, nor drink raw cow's milk (it's actually illegal in the UK) without pasteurization, even if it destroys some of the main immune properties. BUT I think if you are comfortable with it and know the person you are getting it from, then sure, why not. I don't think it's gross at all.

I find this all very interesting. I know TONS (why more than I want to!) on the dairy industry and the production of milk for human consumption, but I know very little on the human side of things. Cattle milk does undergo very very scrupulous monitoring. It's just a cow cannot give you HIV, hepatitis or West Nile through its milk.

[~*sierra*~]

a friend of mine is big into the 'raw foods' movement and has told me drinking unpasteurized milk would solve all my problems (ok i'm summarizing lol). that got me thinking i guess and i agree with the fact that pasteurizing removes some beneficial stuff from foods. since bm is a living substance i would think that heating it for a long period of time would remove some of the beneficial properties. (jessie i think ur right about the pooling&pasteurizing of bm from milkbanks) i am wierd but i would rather give my kid BM that was not pasteurized and from someone i knew than the pasteurized stuff. but i do think that pasteurized BM has lots of added benefits over formula probably and if pasteurization is what it takes to get milkbanks going i def support it.

wow this got into quite the discussion and i'm totally going off on a tangent with the whole pasteurization thing but i like hearing everyones input