If you had no breastmilk, would you use a breastmilk bank?

[Tigergirl1980]

Oh that's awfully sad, poor little bubbas

[*Efjay*]

I don't think that the baby would be put to the breast of the mother on life support, But her milk expressed. I was only refering to the first few feeds as well, nothing long term.

I think in the case of premmie babies, it is encouranged more to give breastmilk. At the ABA conference I attended earlier this year there wasa guest speaker from the Hospital in Newcastle (I think) and he spoke about the important role of BM for premmie babies. But he did also talk about how for very premmie babies it wasn't enough & specially formulated formula was also needed to meet the requirement a baby of such low birth weight. They need to put on weight on fast & from what I could understand of his disscussion, BM alone just doesn't cut it. BUT he was talking about really really premmie babies, like less then 30 weeks.
Alot of the ABA counsellors didn't totally agree with him, but only because no trial (as such) has actually been done to see if they can thrive & survive on BM alone in those situations. But hey, what parent is going to put their hand up & say yeah go ahead try it on my baby. KWIM.

[Toy Tester]

Probably not really a question for a male to be answering, but i thought i'd add my opinion.

I answered 'No i would use formula'. Main reason is i cant see anything wrong with FF kids. I was a FF kid and grew up normal. IMO anyway

I never got any childhood illnesses, just the odd cold etc...So saying that FF kids are more likely to catch illnesses and diseases is a crock.
My weight has never been an issue. My BMI has always been in between 20 & 25. So FF didn't make me obese.

My DS was FF from day 1 and is thriving. I was involved from day 1 and i am glad that i could share in the experience with DW. The thought of my little man being attached to, or guzzling down some other womans milk does not appeal to me.

No regrets. IMO

Mick

[Liz]

Mick - I don't think anyone says that ALL ff kids get sick.. I mean.. not ALL smokers get lung cancer It is understood tho that ff can increase the chances of allergies and sickness. Recent generations have so many more food intolerances, and it's these generations that were fed formula as babies. I don't think it's a crock at all.

It's great that you've been involved in the feeding of your son That is also possible with breastfeeding, by the father feeding a bottle of expressed milk. It's not necessary to be ff'ing for the fathers to be involved.

And it's definitely a question for the males too.. there's usually two parents making these decisions

[belgodfrey]

wow - what an interesting thread...so many questions...

I would have said yes straight away to using someone elses milk - until you lovely ladies started describing it as bodily fluids!! If my baby was prem & I couldn't feed then I would consider it. I think where some of the ewww factor comes into it for me is thinking of someone expressing, sticking it in the freezer and pulling it out to give it to me, which is why I'm not sure I could take it from a friend. It's weird, as long as I think of it going through a 'manufacturing' process of sorts (for lack of a better word) I would be fine taking it. Just the way we've been programmed I think. I don't think I could drink 'fresh' cow's milk either (milk the cow and take it to the kitchen), give it to me pasteurised and everything else any day!

I can see why people would find it difficult, my 20yo brother won't even touch a bottle that's got bm in it - but he reckons he'd be ok if it was from his wife (hypothetically - he's not married).

One more thing. We know that what the mother eats goes through to the bm and causes different reactions, so we eliminate certain things from our diets to keep our babies comfortable - surely you would get situations where mothers had extremely unsettled babies due to the bm, esp in tiny bubs that have such sensitive stomachs. Also, what if your baby had allergies, there's no way you could know what the donor had eaten in order to eliminate possiblities. I know they wouldn't be on donated milk forever, but surely that could present a few problems. (I haven't read the article yet, so forgive me if this is answered in there)

Anyway, that's my 2 cents

Bel

[BellyBelly]

Just to clarify the reason they say that FF babies are more likely to catch illnesses is because formula doesn't contain live white blood cells to fight bugs and illness like breastmilk does. I think it's a perfect example in third world countries where they really do need to be having their breastmilk if they can, because they are more likely to catch disease. The breastmilk is very protective in this case.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Bel, that was really interesting - I'm still not convinced because I'd like to have donated milk first, or known someone who had so I knew the risks, but after reading this I'd be less squeamish, not more! As you say though, you'd want to know what was and wasn't eaten (drunk, smoked, and injected) by the mother before even considering using it.

Quick Q on the whole cow milk thing too: how do you feel about meat? I know a lot of people with offal problems because they don't like the thought of eating a liver... but love a steak. See that moo-cow over there? Both come from the same animal!

[Liz]

I could just never eat anything that processes the waste products of the animal.. such as liver & kidney. Blerk!

[Fi]

Not to mention how totally gross it smells!!! I had to carpool with a guy once for 50mins who had his dinner in the back of the car - it was cooked offal, and I had the window open the whole way. It was 7pm, in the middle of winter (about 3-4deg) and I didn't care. The smell turned my stomach!!
I have eaten a teeny tiny amount of brains - but there is no way I could eat liver or kidney - PUKE!!!

[Debbie Lee]

Yeah... there's just something about eating the gizzards of an animal that turns me off!! LOL

[Fire Fly]

Sorry if i got it wrong, i didnt realise you all were referring to EBM from dead mother. Still though, would the body still allow for the let down. I suppose though if its just for the collustrum then she wouldnt get a let down, horrible topic this.

I dont think that this subject has anything to do really with FFng bubs. The question is 'would you use a milk bank', so forgive me for my ignorance but thats breast milk. I dont understand why the FFng parents are thinking that this topic is haveing a go at them for their decision. Which in fact is THEIR decision. So can we move on and stop agrueing about formula versus breastmilk. Please.

Ive noticed the worry of what goes into the breastmilk ie smoking mum, drugs etc but what about the day to day things your feeding your kids now. What about the additives that are in the food that are far more harmful than a mother that smokes or takes drugs. The whole idea of the breast bank is to give the premmie bubs a head start in life and im sure the screening would be there anyway like FJ has already shown just like with blood its screened. So that isnt really an issue.

I agree that dads can also feed there kids BM from the mum expressing, i know lots of mums that do that to give themselves a break as well as encouraging the bond between bub and dad. Its nice to see a fathers point of view put in here.

Im finished now.

[Toy Tester]

I dont think that this subject has anything to do really with FFng bubs. The question is 'would you use a milk bank', so forgive me for my ignorance but thats breast milk. I dont understand why the FFng parents are thinking that this topic is haveing a go at them for their decision. Which in fact is THEIR decision. So can we move on and stop agrueing about formula versus breastmilk.

Kerrie. I'm not argueing about formula vs breastmilk. The Poll stated 'would you use a milk bank or formula.'
I put down my vote, gave my opinion, and already i have seen people defend BF or put down FF. I simply wanted to put my opinion down. I wasn't out to say BFing is crap, or FF is the best. I was simply stating that i wouldn't use a milk bank and that FF worked fine for me. The original post did say to put down your opinion, and i did that.

I'll leave it at that.

Mick

[Twin Sister]

I probably wouldn't, but not because I'd feel weird about feeding my baby milk from someone else, but because I don't see anything wrong with forumla and the milk bank might be more of a hassle than it's worth. If you can afford it and it's easy to access though, then sure why not.

[*Efjay*]

On another side note about father/baby bonding. Feeding doesn't have to be the only way a father can bond with his child. If it was so important that this be the way a parent bonds with their child, Men would have developed the abilty to lactate. Parenting is a HUGE role & feeding is just a tiny part of it.
LOVE is the major role.

ETA: Sorry, I have a bit mroe to add. A few mentioned the cost involved with providing donated BM to a premmie baby. from the Milk Bank website

Are mothers paid for their donation?

No. We recognise that donating breast milk is an extremely generous gift and in turn ensure that it is safely supplied free of charge to hospitalised babies in need.

[Lea13]

FJ - I think you are starting off another debate here where one need not be started.

In light of the announcement of the opening of the breastmilk bank in WA, I thought I would run a poll to see who would use a breastmilk bank for their premature baby, should you have no milk. What are your thoughts? Would you prefer formula to someone else's milk?

People have answered this with honestly with their thoughts and opinions with reference to BM & FF. I am sure that everyone is well educated in BM vs FF. And whilst all threads are open for discussion I don't really see how your post is required - considering the fact it was actually in response to those saying that they would choose to use FF and not in response to the question itself.

Its so sad that these types of topics always turn into a "debate" about breast verses bottle.

I think it is posts like yours that create these types of debates because you seem unwilling to accept that people do not share your views. This is just my opinion and just for the record I am in no way defensive about FF and I think BF is a wonderful thing. You are a wonderful asset to BellyBelly but sometimes I have to wonder if you have considered that your passion for breast feeding can sometimes make other members feel uncomfortable.

[*Efjay*]

I completly understand what you are saying. I did think that my post may attract some negative feed back,

I will go & edit it. Although I don't agree that I am unwilling to accept that people don't share my veiws. I just see it time and time again that people seem to thing that FFing & BFing are one in the same. But yes your right, my post really had nothing to do with the original topic. I was just responding to a few comments made by others.

[EllyBoo72]

I totally agree with you Lea! That people are unwilling to accept other peoples views.

I do not think that it is appropriate to be ADDING UNNECESSARY comments to peoples opinions. Let them have an opinion, and LEAVE IT AT THAT.

It is pretty obvious that parenting is not just about feeding.

I think that this POLL should have been JUST a POLL and nothing more, although it has made good reading, BUT obviously so many people have been offended by comments and opinions.

Accept peoples views and just MOVE ON unless you have something constructive to say.

[*Efjay*]

Have a go at me if you will, But I get the feeling that if the majority disagree with ones opinion then they are not allowed to express it. Rather annoying actually.