to ask if you would use donated breastmilk if it was available rather than formula?

[bubbleymummy]

Inspired by another thread.

I personally would rather use donated milk. If you wouldn't - why not?

Really interesting to hear about the GDR silken. Of course, you have opened up an opportunity for someone to post about the BF Stasi now

Yes. I used donated milk for dd, she was early 8 wks and was in neo natal. I breastfed my first 4 but just could not produce milk that time. We thought it was due to the trauma(placental abruption) and also difficult to keep pumping during night etc, visit dd in neo natal and look after other 4. But it turns out I was diagnosed with thyroid condition which most likely interferred with milk production. I will be eternally greatful to the woman who donated their milk. Dd left neo natal and apart fron her jabs, has not been near a doctor since or even had a sniffle.

no

I haven't had time to read all the threads, but just wanted to add that I donated breast milk for nearly 6 months. Always had a plentiful supply and just expressed. I'd freeze it in bags and once a week a lady from the hospital would pop in and take away a carrier bag full!

Yep I would and have done before.

When dd1 was born she was a shoulder dystocia and had to go to special care straight away to be checked over, she was bigger than average so they wanted her to have a feed to avoid low blood sugar and there wasn't time for me to feed her so was offered donor milk or formula, I chose donor milk via NG tube so her first proper feed would be from me. She was full term and was only able to have to donor milk because she was going to special care, I'm so glad it was an option because I really didn't want her to have formula.

When I'm breastfeeding I donate to that milk bank and I've seen first hand how the milk is handled, totally safe and much safer than blood as it's screened, handled in a dust free sterile environment and then pasturised. I've donated around 20 litres I think over 3 babies, most of it was after dd1 as I've had less and less time to express as I've had more children but I always make sure the milkbank get lots of my early milk which is best for the preemies.

All breastmilk used by hospitals is screened and handled in this way and is 100% safe, not only is every single batch of milk screened but all donors are screened before donating too. It really is safer than the blood used in blood transfusions.

No, there may be diseases that cant be picked up by screening, and I believe that if someone has HIV it might not show up immediately which is why they have to be tested 6 months after the first test to be absolutely sure they are not carriers.

FF is a perfectly fine substitute, but we all know you werent really interested in peopes opinions. You just wanted yet another chance to do little sad smiley faces at people and post links to studies that sho.....:::zzzzzzzz::::

Surprised to see this old thread resurrected!

Thanks for all your responses. Nice to see there are so many donors out there. :)

Molly, you have issues. Merry Christmas my dear. :)

Molly - ff is not a 'perfectly fine' substitute for preterm babies, as it's linked to a five times the incidence of necrotising enterocolitis, which carries off a good number of preterm babies every year. Also, preterm babies are very vulnerable to developing respitory illness because their lungs are so immature. Breastfed babies are less likely to get respitory illness - a good thing in a full-term baby, but sometimes an absolute life-saver for an early baby.

The risk of a baby contracting a disease from properly screened breastmilk is very, very small compared to this.

That's why breastmilk banks exist, and why doctors and staff working in neonatal units encourage mothers to give their babies breastmilk.

Oh no...I was hoping this thread wasn't going to go the way of most BF/FF threads but I see it is. I'm going to start killing it now...who's with me? die thread die!

Die Die Die thread!

yes I would most definitely.

I wish it was an option when DS was having problems latching on and we had to give him formula top ups. He never got the hang of latching on sadly (didn't know about mumsnet back then), but luckily I had a great supply of BM after my milk came in, so expressed all his milk for him till he was 11 months. I didn't know about milk donation either, otherwise I would have donated too, as I had a freezer full of the stuff that was never used, as it went out of date before I could use it.

shagmund - I thought the (old, bah!) OP was asking if I would use donated bm, so I answered, nothing about pre-term babies was mentioned IIRC?

And yes Bubbley, I do have issues (dont we all at this bleedin time of year), but how the fuck you garnered that from one post is amazing. Oh....... I get it, it was a standard isssue put down, good one

I've never, ever forgiven the hospital for giving my son his FIRST feed of donated breastmilk without my permission, and while I was asleep. The first I knew of it was when I read his notes.

I've used donated breastmilk for my eldest daughter. When she was born, after a difficult birth, I had no milk whatsoever, nothing for 6 days.. I was in hospital for 5 days (high blood pressure) and desperately wanted to breastfeed. A midwife suggested I use donor milk from their breast milk bank and I said yes please, and my daughter drank that. When my milk did come in, I managed to exclusively breastfeed for a year. It didn't occur to me to refuse the donated milk. It is screened and perfectly safe and far better than formula. (and I don't think formula milk is evil either- am currently mix feeding my 2 week old youngest daughter, because I want to, and think the hysteria over evil artifical milk is silly and unhelpful)

If my baby was premature or ill then yes I would use donated breast milk. Otherwise I would stick to formula as it is a good enough substitute and the donated bm should be for babies who really need it.

that's fair enough Haziedoll, but I know some hospitals have an excess of it, which sometimes gets thrown out, so that's probably why they occasionally offer it to people like me who strictly speaking don't need it

Yes, I would. Like Morloth said upthread, the more I think about drinking cow's milk these days the stranger I feel about it. I still drink it in tea and coffee, but if I think too much about what it actually is, it's game over, bleurgh. Dog's milk, anyone? Horse milk? Rat milk? Cat milk? Pig milk? Boak.

It is beyond odd and utterly irrational that people feel human milk is riskier than cow's milk. Either people must feel that human milk is subject to less screening and health precautions, or they feel we are a much more unhygienic and disease ridden speies than cows. A testiment to the massive power of culture and habit over the power of independent reason.

And I had to snigger at the idea that the human milk presented a bigger risk of mad cow disease than the milk from the mad cow itself.

Molly, it's fairly obvious that the thread is old if you look at the original posting date and I wasn't the one to resurrect it. I was (and am) interested in whether or not people would use donated bm or if they would consider it weird/yucky/whatever. The variety of responses and the reasons for them have been very interesting to read IMO. If you think that every question relating to bm is having some sort of go at ff then yes, you do have issues that I don't think you can blame on Christmas. Get over yourself and if you aren't interested in the discussion then don't take part.

Always. I would have to have been at the absolute end of the last resort to have used formula

Absolutely I would (old thread or not).

I don't drink milk, and would always pick bm over formula given the choice.

the problems with formula are usually a result of hygiene issues re. cleaning and sterilising the bottles and teats, not a result of what's in the formula itself. The vast majority of babies manage fine with formula and (horror of horrors) some breastfed babies have unpleasant reactions to what their Mother has eaten/drank. (I breastfed two babies exclusively for 12 months each, so don't have an axe to grind regarding breastfeeding, obviously it's far superior to formula milk; I just think the venomous attitude of the breastapo is depressing and unhelpful and actually puts Mothers off breastfeeding rather than encouraging it, (ironically enough). Formula is not poison. Formula is not poison. Repeat to fade....

Bumbley I didnt look at the date when I posted. I shall flagellate myself forthwith.

I'll be honest I thought you were just spoiling for a fight because of the recent BM threads, hence my little dig, thats all, dont take it personally. Chill out dude, its christmas

And if you are still interested I would be very concerned about the HIV risk so I personally wouldnt use it

I think the venomous attitude of people who use words like "breastapo" or suggest that anyone rational thinks "formula is poison" is depressing.

Perhaps stop adding fuel to a fire?

Breastapo.

I would just rather give my baby human milk. (There are bugs in formula btw, hence having to be so specific on water temp etc.) If that absolutely wasn't available I would use formula with no guilt whatsoever, but it would be a last resort which seems sensible to me.