to not feed my ds someone else's breast milk.

[PotatoLetters]

Ds is mixed fed. Yesterday my friend offered to defrost some of her bm if I ran out of formula. Aibu to not want to feed him this?

Ps I know it was well intended. Not bitching about her offering, just questioning my response.

My DS had donated breastmilk for the first few week after he was born, it was in hospital and it had obviously been screened, mine wasn't an option. I did sign the consent form and didn't really have an issue with the fact he was getting donated breastmilk. I wouldn't agree to it in your situation though, I wouldn't give him breastmilk unless it was screened, regardless of who it came from.

dejard - what if it's expressed and in a bottle though?

It's irrational but I'd decline it would freak me out loads.

I've donated lots of breast milk over the years, some straight to a mum fro my freezer to hers, some via milk banks.

It's just milk.

Well she mentioned that they are screened and for medical procedures in her previous line. It was the 'shafted half the village' so is therefore 'contaminated' bit that I think is a bit .

sorry last post was to seaoflove

No, I wouldn't. Frankly it's just too personal to me, and there's also a safety issue. Formula or cows milk is pasturised to kill off any viruses or bacteria.

Donor breast milk at hospitals or milk banks is screened and also pasturised. Milk from someone outside of these schemes is not screened or pasturised. It could contain viruses such as HIV or hepatitis. Bacteria.

YABU to be happy to feed him the Breast milk of another species but not another human

Yanbu at all. Your ds, it's up to you. Just say no thank you I have some formula with if I run out.

YANBU - giving him her unscreened, untreated breast milk is basically the same as her offering to become blood brothers with your dc or have unprotected sex with them, immunologically speaking.

Cow's milk, milk from a hospital breast milk bank, blood donations through the blood service etc are all totally different in that they are not going to be allowed to pass on disease.
In that respect it is incidentally also far safer to drink untreated milk from a cow than from a human because all the diseases that the human will be ones that affect people, while most conditions a cow could have wont be transmissable to us.

I know someone who donates breast milk to an adult with cancer, and tb it makes me feel a bit odd. But it's apparently very effective - there's even a drug almost ready for market with the human breastmilk protein in question in it - so it makes sense.

I'd scald milk before giving it if I was donated some, but I'd rather feed my baby donated human milk than formula tbh. In fact if there was a way of creating dried milk from human, I'd be delighted as I HATE breastfeeding, and could then mix feed without guilt.

Exactly, it's not because it's breast milk, but it's not screened or tested.

Zebbie most of us are screened for just about all diseases going when pregnant though, aren't we? I'd assume someone offering donated milk wouldn't do so if they had a transmissable condition.

bumbky if someone has shagged around without a condom which is what I actually said in previous posts, they are more likely to have caught HIV etc than your average nun.

That's not distasteful that's fact.

It might be irrational when we drink cows milk but I also eat beef and wouldn't eat a piece of another human.

FFS. Is this a joke? Humans are MEANT to drink Breast milk but not eat each other. Daft thing to say

Which is why I said it was irrational. Do you know what irrational means?

You can pasteurise milk at home. It's not hard. Though obviously you can't pre-screen as well, as milk banks do.

To compare drinking breastmilk to eating human flesh is not irrational its nonsensical.

YANBU in any shape or form. No one would want to put their childs health in danger with unscreened milk. No one with any sense anyway. Thats your childs health we are talking about here.

Formula or cows milk is pasturised to kill off any viruses or bacteria genuine question - how come it has to be mixed with boiling water then to kill off bacteria?

I think there is a bit of an extra ikky factor if you know who the donor of the milk is, I always donated my colostrum when I was in hospital , i had copious quantities of milk & did not want it to go to waste, It was collected and frozen for use for the NICU for the premmie & micro-premmie babies. I personally would not have a problem with it

I donated breastmilk and would have given my child donated BM if necessary. However like others said the donor is screened for certain diseases. It really would depend on how well I knew the friend.
My sister offered some of her breastmilk for my baby once when I had moved to formula and thought that I mightnt have enough with me. I would have given my baby her milk no problem but someone who isnt a blood relative I would have to think twice.

sleep all pregnant women in the UK are screened for HIV but it's for stats only.

Unless you have been tested specifically for HIV you have no idea if you are positive or not and you have absolutely zero knowledge of anyone else's status.

It worries me that people seem to think HIV has gone away and even worse seem so ignorant of how it's passed around through bodily fluids, including breast milk

Lovemycats, it's the way you've expressed it that I find distasteful.

I was a UKAMB donor when breastfeeding DD. They asked permission to pull my medical records and I signed to say I wasn't on any medication that would prohibit donation. They then sent me sterile bottles and I dropped them back at the hospital when I'd filled them. I didn't do many donations as dd was almost 6 months old (and I was having trouble expressing by then) but it wasn't like I just rocked up without them screening me first.