How do you feel about unscreened donor milk?

[RhiChiChi]

I'll admit I'm something of a conservative when it comes to this - I'd prefer to access donor milk through a milk bank rather than take the chance on someone else's lifestyle. I'd have to know them extremely well to consider using donated milk from them.

I feel this way atm but haven't been faced with the decision of using donor milk.

TBH it never entered my mind with my DD who was FF. I don't recall donor milk being offered as an alternative.... Something perhaps people should be directed to prior to being offered formula. (I had DD in a private hospital)

[FabFiona]

On the thread tangent, here are recent stat for women and HIV in Australia.

http://www.afao.org.au/library/hiv-a...ia-an-overview

In 2010, 143 women were newly-diagnosed with HIV in Australia.

It was Barb who originally made the point about one diagnosis in Australian Born women every 2 years. This article only refers to women in Australia, so I'm assuming the figure includes those that have migrated to Australia. I'm not sure why for the purpose of this discussion they would be excluded though.

[lady_neon]

Interesting thread.

Thing is, often when the call for milk goes out the people that are willing to do it are most likely part of a natural parenting community, so even if you don't know them, someone you know does.. You know they have the same ideas about BF as you do, which is why they are willing to donate milk. It's not like they are just completely random strangers..

It depends on the situation. If it was a gift directly from a woman to my baby I would be guided by my knowledge of her lifestyle and her knowledge of her health. If it was from a milk bank, then I would want it screened because I wouldn't have access to information about the donors in the same way that I would in a more informal donation.

These 2.

Not having been in a situation to comment on, it's hard to say - I might think differently in the future. Right now though, I would happily use (and offer) breast milk from an unscreened close friend/family member who I trust and know their lifestyle. However if the milk is from a stranger I would absoloutley be using a milk bank.

My younger sister was born prematurely and my mother's milk hadn't come in, so the hossy had to use donated breast milk - parents were told formula was just uncomparable. At one stage there was no breast milk to use, so they used formula and my sister's health deteriorated quickly and they thought she wouldn't make it. As soon as breast milk was sourced, she perked right up. In that situation I think I'd be inclined to use unscreened milk. Once she was out of hospital (4 months later) she was FF and is now a strong, healthy 17 yo.

[bellany]

How is a risk of transmitting HIV safer than formula? O.o

For some women there is no clean drinking water to mix it with and the cost of formula means both parents must work and can lead to watering formula down more with can lead to malnutrituon. Also the whole family suffers from the expense of it taking money from the food budget and these babies are often weaned onto solids sooner with is also not great for their development especially when solids are also low in supply


Sent from my Galaxy S3 so please excuse errors.

[Jennifer13]

Not only clean water and the like, but access to medicines when baby gets sick are a big issue too. FF babies do get sick more often, particularly with tummy bugs, and where good medical care and affordable medicines are not available this can become very serious.

[Butterfly Dawn]

Having a child who got caught up in the sanlu incident here, and know that he was damaged somehow by that formula, i would take milk from a donor in a developed country screened. I also think the types of ladies who care to give would not be the types to be on drugs etc.
I wouldnt touch bm here from anybody else. Giving blood here isn't safe so buying milk? No way.


Sorry if it doesn't make sense, the barefoot princess is covering me with kisses

[Butterfly Dawn]

Ff babes get sick more often? oh please don't start this. It depends ob the child. I have feed all 3 of my kids the same way and their health is different for each

Sorry if it doesn't make sense, the barefoot princess is covering me with kisses

[onthefly]

Statistically speaking - across the population of thousands of children - they do.

[Jellyfish]

I'd be happy to use donated milk from somebody I knew or through some of the networks of people available these days where everybody is connected by someone. I'm lucky to have never been in such a position but I would definitely be trying to source BM in some way as my first point of call after not being able to feed at the breast or express myself.

[Jennifer13]

Ff babes get sick more often? oh please don't start this. It depends ob the child. I have feed all 3 of my kids the same way and their health is different for each

Anecdotally and for individual children, it may not be the case.

I am speaking only of statistics for the general population, particularly in the countries where HIV is a much higher risk than it is here. Unfortunately, for the general population, babies do get sick more often and more seriously when ff. Your ff child may not, nor may any of the ff babies you know. That's fantastic. Unfortunately, it is not true if you look at the whole of society. I was not making an assumption, just an observation at a macro level. Which is where health authorities consider the issues.

[Lily Dust]

Personally, I think I would need to be put in that situation. But for me at this time, I wouldnt use it. However I know I'd prefer donated BM over Formula but would want it screened. unscreened doesnt sit well with me. That said though, I'd like to think that someone who was kind enough to donate their BM would know their health status not to donate milk that could transmit anything iykwim.

[blessedatlast]

i would prefer to find a donor than go through a milk bank because of the processing of the milk that is done in a milk bank. i read an article somewhere that the processing can destroy some of the goodies in the breastmilk.

Yes, that's true.. Another issue is the cost!!! The milk bank near me wanted to charge me $80 for 1.1L... If the milk bank and formula were my only options I would have had to use formula at least some of the time.. Luckily for me though, they weren't the only options and I got EBM FREE from wonderful sharing milky mama's

[Maruschke]

Yes, that's true.. Another issue is the cost!!! The milk bank near me wanted to charge me $80 for 1.1L... If the milk bank and formula were my only options I would have had to use formula at least some of the time.. Luckily for me though, they weren't the only options and I got EBM FREE from wonderful sharing milky mama's

Yeah they pasteurise it which kills some of the goodness. And yes, it really is $8 per 100 mils. I saw someone did fundraising for a milk bank, raised $8000 which was only 1000 bottles of milk and I thought... omg whaaaa? Milk banks are really expensive to maintain, sadly.

[Barb Glare]

Risks of milk sharing vs risks of formula feeding
http://www.amj.net.au/index.php?jour...path%5B%5D=933

[Butterfly Dawn]

Who can afford that? That seems so wrong. Cheaper to.find a wet nurse?

Sorry if it doesn't make sense, the barefoot princess is covering me with kisses

[~ Mylitta ~]

I've donated frozen EBM to two precious babies so far, and am about to donate more to a third baby in the next week or so. None of the mothers have ever requested blood screening. I was curious why they didn't ask for it, even when I offered, so I asked one of the Mum's. She basically told me that some of it is based on research that there is really not terribly much that can be passed on through breastmilk, partly trust, and partly observation. She met me in person and met my kids. She could see that both (I just had two at the time) looked very healthy and she said I looked healthy and that my environment looked 'clean' (so now hygiene issues visible and from the smell of my house and me she knew I was telling the truth about being a non-smoker). But she said the biggest reason she feels to trust Mums that are still breastfeeding their own kids is that Mums generally want to do the best for their kids and try to be as healthy as possible while breastfeeding. The only person she had ever requested a blood screening from was a Mum that no longer breastfed her own children but was continuing to express just to continue donating. So basically I agree with what Blessedatlast said here:

Thing is, often when the call for milk goes out the people that are willing to do it are most likely part of a natural parenting community, so even if you don't know them, someone you know does.. You know they have the same ideas about BF as you do, which is why they are willing to donate milk. It's not like they are just completely random strangers..

Yes, that's true.. Another issue is the cost!!! The milk bank near me wanted to charge me $80 for 1.1L... If the milk bank and formula were my only options I would have had to use formula at least some of the time.. Luckily for me though, they weren't the only options and I got EBM FREE from wonderful sharing milky mama's

Yes, breastmilk from a milk bank is extremely expensive and a lot of the "goodies" are denatured when the milk is pasteurised (although it is still better than formula). It's also very hard to get for just a "normal" baby. Having a low milk supply often isn't a good enough reason to be able to buy milk from a milk bank. They only have a limited supply and they basically triage recipients so that the most "needy" get it. So premmies and babies with nutritional issues get first dibs.

For myself personally, if I had to get milk for my kids, then I would prefer donated milk over milk bank milk, and I would prefer milk bank milk over formula. Even though I happily donate without being screened (other than my pregnancy screening), I think I would probably still request blood screening if the donor was a stranger and if there was time to wait for the results.

[Phteven]

I guess that it's incorrect to call informal donations unscreened. Clearly Mums are screening, they are just relying on honesty and their own observations as a screening method rather than blood tests.

[Maruschke]

I guess that it's incorrect to call informal donations unscreened. Clearly Mums are screening, they are just relying on honesty and their own observations as a screening method rather than blood tests.

Good point, though when I made the OP I was thinking of formal blood tests. We are always constantly assessing situations, no way to really avoid it.

Mylitta that was a great post.