I have a really vested reason for asking this question. I have just recently been put in contact with a lady who is struggling to feed her bubba (1 week younger than mine). She's battled nipple cracks, thrush & low supply, and has just started on meds to try help boost her supply.

I am in the very fortunate position of having had to express early on but not actually using any of it - I have no wish to give my DD at bottle at all if I can avoid it. So, I have about 5.5litres in the freezer. And we have hit up on the happy arrangement where this lady is using some of my EBM to top-up her bubba as she was keen to avoid FF if she could. Interestingly both couples have remarkably similar digestive issues (both mums have a malabsorption issue and both fathers don't cope well with dairy - I suspect this motivates her desire for EBM as well).

And I guess it got me thinking. My DS was topped up with formula (before I'd really had time to think about it). My DD went sooooooo close to being topped up, but we managed to avoid it by the hair on our chinny chin chin! For me to provide some milk to another bubba is just one of the most amazing wonderful things I could ever do as far as I'm concerned. And when I got a text from her yesterday thanking me so much, as her hungry baby is now much happier & more settled thanks to the extra EBM.
FYI, our process was to meet, discuss milk bank criteria, discuss my health & diet and basically see if we both felt comfortable (which we did). I understand that she is pasteurising it to make sure any infection is removed but I don't know the exact details. But I guess it got me thinking... AND... in contradictory fashion, I wasn't sure if I would have accept it had I needed it!

  • Would you donate EBM to a friend or someone you'd been put in touch with?
  • Would you accept EBM from a friend or someone you'd been put in touch with? Or would you rather provide FF than use someone else's EBM?
  • How much would it matter to you that you'd known the person previously?

I don't think there's a right or wrong here, but when i think about the wet nurses in days of old, it makes me wonder how comfortable we are with similar concepts these days? I also wondered whether I could be at risk of being sued should anything happen, but then I felt that fear of consequences was not a reason I was proud of to stop me doing this, so I did it anyway

Cheers,
Belfie