Donor breastmilk for your baby?

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Baby_Irish

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Hi there,
I recently had my first baby. I completely assumed that I would be able to breastfeed her. However we have had several setbacks (needing to supplement right away due to high bilirubin, lip-tie, weak suck, extremely sleepy baby, possible PCOS diagnoses making my milk supply low). Needless to say, at 4 weeks my baby is on formula about 4/5 of her feedings. I was really devastated at first, feeling broken and just really mourning the fact that I can’t breastfeed her exclusively. But I had a reality check and know I am so blessed to have a beautiful healthy baby girl and perhaps I can still breastfeed exclusively for any future children.
I still can’t deny though, that breastmilk is SO much better than formula. So I am considering pairing up with a donor mom. I live in the San Diego area and there is a milk share company called Eats on Feets that has a Southern Cali group on facebook. Has anyone ever done this before? It is completely free and completely voluntary…moms with an overabundant supply volunteer their extra milk to moms and babies who need it. However, there is the risk of the donor mom having a disease or not being honest about medications they are taking, though honestly I think the risk is low because these moms are obviously breastfeeding their own babies. My main concern is that I believe most breastfeeding moms are on the pill and I don’t want my daughter getting any of those artificial hormones!
Would you risk it? Any ideas how I could find a NFP-using mom in my area?
I would be thrilled to still be able to give my daughter breastmilk full time. Please pray for us that a solution presents itself.
Thanks!
 
I do not know about the group, but just wanted to share that my ex wife used to store her extra milk in the freezer and we ended up donating a bunch to a friend who adopted a newborn.

So in that sense we have done it. I would think you would want to know the person giving you the milk well, and perhaps the group has a way of doing that.

Congratulations on the Baby!
 
Baby_Irish said:
Hi there,
…My main concern is that I believe most breastfeeding moms are on the pill and I don’t want my daughter getting any of those artificial hormones!
Would you risk it? …
Thanks!
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Speak to your doctor/pediatrician about the risks.
 
Maybe consider contacting your local La Leche League to see if any of their members donate. It may be different where you live, but around here, the LLL moms are mostly whole-foods, crunchy, avoid-all-chemical types of moms. My good friend is an LLL leader and a non-practicing Catholic. She has no moral qualms with the pill but doesn’t even let her kids eat cheetos, let alone consume hormones through her breastmilk.

God bless you for wanting the best for your baby! Pray to Blessed Zelie Martin who desperately wanted to breastfeed her babies (and was disappointed to not be able to) for help. In her day, they didn’t have formula and she had to send most of her babies out to live with wet nurses for several months, including Little St. Therese of Lisieux.
 
I actually think estrogen containing birth control pills can inhibit milk production…anything that changes the balance of hormones a breastfeeding mom has could negatively impact milk production. So the women with an overabundance wouldn’t be the likeliest candidates for BCP. I would ask if the donors medications are made public. From info. I read about donating, it sounded like they don’t even want you to drink alcohol. 🤷

Praying for you and your precious baby!
 
“However, there is the risk of the donor mom having a disease or not being honest about medications they are taking, though honestly I think the risk is low because these moms are obviously breastfeeding their own babies.”

I think that the risks you mention cancel out the benefits, but talk to your pediatrician. This is some stranger’s body fluids we’re talking about.

I know donor milk can be VERY important for preemies, but it’s not that much of an improvement for term infants in developed countries where there’s clean water available for making up formula.

(I recently offered milk to a mother of premature twins, but told her that she should ask her pediatrician for a list of blood tests for me to take first. She was initially interested, but didn’t follow through. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing this not under medical supervision.)
 
These are bodily fluids. All kinds of things can be passed through breast milk. Think of it like blood. You probably wouldn’t join a group to find a blood donor. You would insist on screening and you would use a blood bank tied to a local medical center. There are breast milk “banks” that screen all donations. If you want donor milk I would recommend going through a bank instead.

Some people don’t know their status with certain diseases. They may have good intentions, but that isn’t enough to keep your baby safe. You don’t want to take that risk with your baby.
 
Xantippe said:
I know donor milk can be VERY important for preemies, but it’s not that much of an improvement for term infants in developed countries where there’s clean water available for making up formula.
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I’d dispute this. Breast milk, when it is safe and available, is** far **superior to infant formula, even in developed countries like the United States.
 
“when it is safe and available…”

That’s the problem, though–is untested breast milk from total strangers safe or not? Who knows. Also, bear in mind that one would probably wind up using breastmilk from a number of different donors, so that the risk of transmission of disease increases with every additional donor.
 
I personally wouldn’t let a stranger even hold my baby, let alone provide me breastmilk for my baby.
 
Xantippe said:
I personally wouldn’t let a stranger even hold my baby, let alone provide me breastmilk for my baby.
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Fine, but I think it’s worth exploring. Given that breast milk is so much better for babies, it seems reasonable for a mother unable to breastfeed to research options for obtaining other sources of human breast milk. OP seems aware of the risks and capable of juding them against potential benefits (which are not insignificant).
 
“OP seems aware of the risks and capable of juding them against potential benefits (which are not insignificant).”

I was just looking at this piece from last year:

skepticalob.com/2012/10/think-peer-to-peer-donated-breastmilk-is-safe-think-again.html

Some research was done on a group of over 1,000 prospective milk donors. It turned out that about 1.6% had serious infectious diseases (syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, etc.). 1.6% may not sound that scary, but if one uses multiple donors, then the risk multiplies. Lots of people don’t know that they are carriers for serious infectious diseases.

Informal milk-sharing is a very risky activity.
 
I think if you are serious about it, go through a milk bank rather than an informal group on Facebook. I am a passionate bf supporter, LLL member, crunchy mama etc etc. but I would not be comfortable taking expressed milk from who knows who, with what kind of pump, in what condition, and so on.

The milk bank pasteurizes the milk and tests it. Yes, it is very expensive! But something to consider. I have several over producing friends who donate 🙂

hmbana.org/
 
Xantippe said:
1.6% may not sound that scary, but if one uses multiple donors, then the risk multiplies. Lots of people don’t know that they are carriers for serious infectious diseases.
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I’m not denying there are risks. I’m suggesting that the OP needs to explore this further to determine whether these potential risks outweigh the very clear and significant advantages of feeding a baby breast milk (fewer respiratory illnessness, less risk of meningitis, fewer ear infections, a reduced risk of death in the first year of life, reduced risk of developing cancer and diabetes, etc). The benefits are not negligible. It may be that the OP decides she’s not willing to take this risk, and that’s perfectly alright, but it’s not unreasonable for her to consider it.

(As an unrelated aside, Xantippe, you can “quote” previous posters by pressing the quote button at the bottom of a post and deleting the portions you don’t want to include. Quoting can be helpful for readers who are skimming to quickly see which portions of a post are quoted and which ones are your own words. I know you include quotes, I just thought it might be useful for you to know that 🙂
 
Xantippe said:
I personally wouldn’t let a stranger even hold my baby, let alone provide me breastmilk for my baby.
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I agree with those who say go to a milk bank, not an unregulated group, if you want donor milk. But me personally, even though I would donate milk, I’m not so sure I would use another woman’s milk either. I am very, very pro-breastfeeding, but the formulas of today are not the corn syrup mixtures of the past. They are a fine substitute when a mother cannot breastfeed. Skin-to-skin contact and closeness can be achieved, even while feeding bottles!

God bless you and your family!
 
Baby_Irish said:
Hi there,
However we have had several setbacks (needing to supplement right away due to high bilirubin, lip-tie, weak suck, extremely sleepy baby, possible PCOS diagnoses making my milk supply low). Needless to say, at 4 weeks my baby is on formula about 4/5 of her feedings.
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OP, another thought that you may have already considered. Since the mother’s body responds to the feeding demands of her baby, it’s possible that your body could now or at a later date start producing more milk. There are supplementation systems that enable you to feed your baby formula while she is nursing so that her suckle can prompt your body to make more milk. I only say this because some of the factors that made breastfeeding a newborn difficult (the bilirubin count, sleepy baby, poor latch/suck, etc) may not be a problem for a one or two month old. And PCOS can be treated if it hasn’t been already. You could meet with a lactation consultant at some point to explore these options. Just a thought. I’m rooting for you!
 
I have donated through Eats and Feets and nursed babies informally. Go for it. Ask for med records to make sure mamas are safe and disease free.
 
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