I have wondered for a long time *not a debate*

[Kazmar]

I have always thought it was stupid that we offer formula, but dont sell breastmilk?????

I have said this to many people and had some strange comments back, like "I find giving my child somebody elses bm disturbing, you dont know what lifestyle that mother has"

To which I reply, "They would screen it. Would you say no to a blood transfusion?"

So my question is, why is it a mind set, that its 'ok' to feed canned powder,made in a factory, but 'strange' to buy bm???

Hopefully one day all that is offered is bm, just wonder if you mummies see a problem with this? Maybe at 1st it seems strange but really when you weigh it up, makes sense, no?

Personaly I have used donor milk......

[Fleur]

Interesting, this this morning....

Mothers Split over revival of breastfeeding eachother's babies

I've donated & wouldn't have a problem with using donated milk. I can understand how for some people it's confronting though. I don't know if only having BM on offer is a practical alternative...

[Enchanted]

I would think that it is because there is not enough supply.

We have donor milk banks etc which are fantastic but they are always crying out for more mothers to donate. I know expressing just for my DD was a huge job in itself, let alone having extra to "sell" or "give" to someone to then sell on. I just don't think it's a viable option.

[Tinks]

I'd say Breast milk is covered by the same legislation as blood and organs etc. It's illegal to sell them but they can be donated.

[boomba]

I had a thread a while ago about the breast milk bank on the gold coast...it has no or hardly any government funding and is constantly trying to raise money to keep its doors open.

Very morbid but DH and I have an understanding that if anything happend to me after my baby was born he was/is to find a "village" and make sure my baby is breastfed...if the milk banks were more available it wouldnt be so hard to do this.

[ss_storm]

some might think it puts women into the league of dairy cows? Personally I don't know if I'd be comfortable going out and buying a bottle of BM for my baby..If I desperately needed a blood transfusion then I would accept it, but that's kind of a life saving situation, and it's not like they have artificial blood they can offer you instead.

[Enchanted]

Snap SS! I was just coming back to talk about dairy cows!

[Little Chicken]

I think you may get some mothers though that would express and sell all thier breastmilk and then feed thier own child formula.

[Doing my best]

Blood transfusions are there to save lives, and I would 'probably' consent if faced with that decision, however, BM is not the only way to save a babies life if the mother cannot BF, so personally no I wouldn't..

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Blood transfusions are there to save lives, and I would 'probably' consent if faced with that decision, however, BM is not the only way to save a babies life if the mother cannot BF, so personally no I wouldn't..

:yeahthat: i don't know why but the thought of someone else's BM just doesn't sit right with me. And i would only accept someone elses blood if it was in a life or death situation otherwise i would refuse.

I understand that all BM donated would be screened but what if they make mistakes or become slack and something is passed on our babies, i'm not saying that would happen but i atleast know formula is fine and that it doesn't stop a child from being smarter than those who are BF.

As an example we were out at dinner last night and there was another young couple with their 5 month old girl, they started chatting to us, they thought Miss K was a newborn as shes so little. Anyways the mother asked me questions, she asked if i BF or FF and i said FF to which she said fair enough. Then her little girl was being a bit cranky because she kept taking her dummy out and then the mother said in a bragging kind of tone that her bub had just learnt to take her dummy out and put it back in and thats when DP said that Miss K has been able to do that for a few weeks now.

I'm not saying my bub is the smartest in the world but she learnt something well before this other bub and the difference is mine is FF where the other is BF. I know BM has it benefits over FF but formula really is not that bad.

And im not taking a stab at anyone i know this is a friendly conversation so if my post comes across as snooty its not my intention

[luna moth]

i don't know why but the thought of someone else's BM just doesn't sit right with me.

So you don't drink cows milk? It's someone else's breast milk, just the "someone else" eats grass and says moo.

[Laranna]

I understand that all BM donated would be screened but what if they make mistakes or become slack and something is passed on our babies, i'm not saying that would happen but i atleast know formula is fine and that it doesn't stop a child from being smarter than those who are BF.

As an example we were out at dinner last night and there was another young couple with their 5 month old girl, they started chatting to us, they thought Miss K was a newborn as shes so little. Anyways the mother asked me questions, she asked if i BF or FF and i said FF to which she said fair enough. Then her little girl was being a bit cranky because she kept taking her dummy out and then the mother said in a bragging kind of tone that her bub had just learnt to take her dummy out and put it back in and thats when DP said that Miss K has been able to do that for a few weeks now.

I'm not saying my bub is the smartest in the world but she learnt something well before this other bub and the difference is mine is FF where the other is BF. I know BM has it benefits over FF but formula really is not that bad.

And im not taking a stab at anyone i know this is a friendly conversation so if my post comes across as snooty its not my intention

Donated breastmilk can be screened and is open to the possibility of contamination but so is formula. Formula is man made in a factory and therefore also has risks of being contaminated if someone makes an error.

Dedicated_mummy, I get what you're saying. I would use donor milk. In fact, I used my sisters milk when I was having supply troubles with DS.

[Jennifer13]

I understand that all BM donated would be screened but what if they make mistakes or become slack and something is passed on our babies, i'm not saying that would happen but i atleast know formula is fine and that it doesn't stop a child from being smarter than those who are BF.

Actually, we don't know that formula is fine. The recent incident in China highlighted just how 'not fine' it is, with babies being given formula laced with melamine that had fatal consequences. We also don't know what's in formula, they don't label for GM ingredients if it's less than a certain %age, for example. The idea that a multi-national company that is there to make a profit has your child's best interests at heart is fundamentally flawed IMO.

There are so many issues with providing breastmilk for sale that I think a simpler solution would be to increase bfing amongst the community in general. And encouraging (not disparaging) those mothers within a community who share their bm. Milk banks for sick and prem babies are wonderful, but not really viable for the broader population.

[STARRYSKY]

I don't have a problem with it, would gladly use EBM over formula any day, if (god forbid) I am not able to BF subsequent children for whatever reason, I can only hope that I will have friends and family who will be willing to help out.
If there was a milk bank near me I would have donated too, sadly there isnt, I also wouldn't bat an eyelid if someone offered to BF DS for me for some valid reason, I would gladly do the same in return.
I don't think my opinion is very mainstream, although there does seem to be a bit of a comeback for it lately.

ok, so I know you dont want a debate, but after I posted I noticed a few other posts, "bm not being life or death?" I beg to differ, I recently read an article about how now, 50-70 years after formula use has been so prevalent that the health risks are now coming to light. If I can find it, I will link to it, Im sure it was posted in here a while back...

ETA: not sure this is it but close...https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...er-142393.html

[Kazmar]

No I dont wnat a debate, but healthy convo is allowed

I was going to say the same thing, breast milk IS a life savour maybe you dont see the benefits straight up, but they're there

Im just trying to understand our mind set......

We all know 'breast is best' etc. Im just trying to see that if the 'best' was accessable, why some would still not 'CHOOSE' it

Im not talking about another lady feeding your child, Im talking about going to a bank and buying the milk, instead of going to the supermarker etc and buying can of formula....

Also Im thinking our answers would be very different to those answers given by people who live in a country with breastfeeding ads on TV, ads around town on buses etc......

[Maruschke]

I'm wondering if someone else's BM is as good as your own? When there is illness in a house, the germs are passed to the mother via nursing, who creates antibodies and gives them to the infant via BF. If that cycle doesn't exist (which it doesn't using donor BM) it can't be as perfect as a mother BF her own child in their own home, KWIM? Likely the infant is getting antibodies to illnesses they aren't exposed to at that time. They also aren't bonding with their mother in the same way.

All that aside, I still support it, even if I wouldn't do it that way myself.

[HotI]

Some people who bottlefeed formula don't believe that breastmilk has any great benefits over formula. If you held this belief, then getting breastmilk from another human would only add risk (transmission of diseases etc), so i doubt they would be interested.

If Women have the ability to produce it themself, but choose not to, why should other women spend hours expressing etc for someone who doesn't believe in its merits.

Who is going to produce all the breastmilk for the stores? Who will profit? There is heaps of profit in formula, i doubt they will want to let that go.

[Kazmar]

Some people who bottlefeed formula don't believe that breastmilk has any great benefits over formula. If you held this belief, then getting breastmilk from another human would only add risk (transmission of diseases etc), so i doubt they would be interested.

If Women have the ability to produce it themself, but choose not to, why should other women spend hours expressing etc for someone who doesn't believe in its merits.

Who is going to produce all the breastmilk for the stores? Who will profit? There is heaps of profit in formula, i doubt they will want to let that go.

This is what Im affraid of....people truely not knowing or being educated on the differences......I never knew while being pg with Annabelle and many dont.....

Also the scarey thing is the formula companies profits, their profits are much more important to them then a babys health.....

Maybe they should switch their funding to bm instead of formula

I dont have all the answers to the MANY questions that would arise, but surely their has to be more thought put into it, no?

In the end it's our future who will suffer if we dont put 110% thought and effort into such an important matter that is fast becoming 'taboo' to speak about, in fear it may offend...