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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Milk donation! Every drop counts!!

67 replies

fastasleep · 02/11/2005 16:36

I just had the lady from my nearest milk bank round for the first time, as I'm purely expressing for my DD it's very easy for me to donate breastmilk - in fact I'm massively over-producing and she took 10 litres of frozen milk back with her...

But did you know that one ounce is enough to feed a very premature baby for a whole 24 hours?!

There are ten milk banks in the UK, but you'd be amazed how far they'll travel to pick up milk... they will give you an electric pump and supply all your bottles etc, they don't mind if you make loads or a tiny bit, they have flexible pick up times to fit around your life...

I think it's sad that in the whole city of Liverpool they have three milk donors, me included... it's not that hard to do if your feeding is well established, they recommend pumping straight after a feed for a few minutes on each side, you can top up the bottle and leave it in the fridge until it's full and then freeze it, your baby won't get any less milk that way... the only down side to it is that it takes a bit of your time!

Please look into it if you're at all interested - here's a link with the addresses on, here's the donor information. (Again you'd be amazed how far they'll travel so don't be put off if the nearest one is quite far away)

Thanks for reading!

OP posts:
tissy · 02/11/2005 16:38

10 LITRES

Original poster
fastasleep · 02/11/2005 16:43

I wasn't boasting at all... honest... lol...

OP posts:
PiccadillyCircus · 02/11/2005 16:45

I'm going to have a look at the links - it would be great to be able to help premature babies.

PiccadillyCircus · 02/11/2005 16:46

Only potential problem with me is that I am taking ADs which although OK for bf and OK for DD to have might not be OK for other babies I suppose.

QueenVictoria · 02/11/2005 16:57

I did wonder about this - saw it on city hospital but i didnt realise there were 10 banks in the country. I produce tonnes so i will look at it definitely. I hate chucking the excess away.

QueenVictoria · 02/11/2005 16:57

oh bugger - baby has to be under 6 months - DS is 28 weeks.

bum.

highlander · 02/11/2005 19:00

premature babies thrive best on expressed milk from mum. Milk expressed from full-term boobies isn't as good for them apparently. I think Kellymom discusses it.

Original poster
fastasleep · 04/11/2005 18:46

But sometimes highlander the mother of the prem baby is under too much stress to produce milk, therefore full term newborn milk or even toddler breastmilk is better than formula...

As for the six month thing I would call your nearest one and ask, that didn't seem to be a problem with my milkbank when I quizzed the lady!

Everyone who thinks they may be able to do it really should contact their nearest bank! I'm glad some of you have thought about doing it! (It was actually an MNer that gave me the idea in the first place, thankyou that person!)

OP posts:
alux · 04/11/2005 21:08

was that me on the expressing clique thread?

well done. funnily enough, before I read your post yesterday, I was thinking of donating mine and was going to phone our local hospital to see if they were interested. I guess I should go to milk bank tho.

ladymuck · 04/11/2005 21:13

Would definitely encourage you to go for it. My colleague had a v prem baby (born at 25 weeks) about 3 months ago. Whilst she managed to express for about 6 weeks, she wasn't producing enough and the baby desparately needed more milk to grow. What I hadn't realised is that any sort of formula isn't a great option until the babies are 34+ weeks gestation as their guts can't take it. So it is only because of donor milk that the baby survived.

SueW · 04/11/2005 21:41

Seconded. PLEASE do it. I was fortunate enough to live close to a milk bank when DD was born and our local NCT organised a 'milk run' where someone would visit me every fortnight when DD was young to collect the milk from my freezer and transport it to the local milk bank.

frannyandzooey · 04/11/2005 22:06

I have another incentive for people who might be able to donate...think of all the extra cake you can eat if you are eating for 3 instead of just 2

katymac · 04/11/2005 22:08

I asked about this when I had DD (Royal free in London) and was told not to....don't know if that's 'cos I had had ME previously or what (was a bit upset at the time)

Shame really as I produced tonnes (or is it litres?)

toothyboy · 04/11/2005 22:10

Thank you for posting this info. I didn't know about milk donating when I was bf ds - but have no2 due in March, so will definitely try to donate some then.

Original poster
fastasleep · 05/11/2005 00:43

I'm really glad some of you are finding my links helpful ... it really can be lifesaving which is something I don't think many of us realise until we've already looked into donating... good luck in March toothyboy

OP posts:
mears · 05/11/2005 00:49

I donated breastmilk 12 years ago and got a great sense of satisfaction when the midwife from the neonatal unit came to pick it up.

You are right highlander that the best milk for a preterm baby is it's mothers, but some women are unable to produce enough for their babies using a pump.

In our unit all mums are encouraged to express for their babies in NNU and initially 100% do for preterm babies. They cannot always sustain it.

EBM is also used for other sick babes whose mothers are not breastfeeding but who need the very easily digestable breast milk.
I would encourage anyone to give it a go.

nervousmum · 05/11/2005 10:33

Thanks for the link, Fastasleep. Having looked on their website, there is a hospital 40 miles away from me, so i've e-mailed them to see if they are prepared to travel that far. I hope so - it seems such a waste just chucking my excess down the sink, when i could be helping to save lives.

NannyL · 05/11/2005 17:51

my mummy used to donate breast milk when she was feeding me, 25 years ago and 45 years ago so did her mother,

The both have enourmouse boobs that produced SOO much milk. (shes now a 36 G )

Im really hoping i done follow suit, as when i have kids im determined to breast feed, but really DONT want such enourmouse boobs as a result!

Pidge · 05/11/2005 18:31

I also donated this time round - and would definitely do it again. It was so easy and satisfying. Totally recommend it. Oh and I never produced vast amounts - though that could have been due to my supersize, milk guzzling baby. But it was fine just doing 2-3 oz here and there.

NannyL - I thought most experts claimed that it was pregnancy that did for your bosom rather than extended or extensive breastfeeding / pumping. Not that the experts necessarily know anything! But I've fed one kid for 2 years, and my 8 month old plus expressing for the milk bank and I don't think I rival Dolly Parton yet .

Beanfrog · 05/11/2005 19:32

My neighbour never stopped producing milk after she'd weaned her kids so she donated for nearly 2 years until she had breast reduction surgery to stop the milk. She tells a funny story about how she would wake up to find her cat under the duvet licking his mouth because her boobs were leaking - funny but gross at the same time!

Tatties · 06/11/2005 00:45

I would like to do this but ds is 7mths - I guess I should contact my nearest milk bank to find out whether I'm any good! The nearest for me is Huddersfield, anyone know if they are likely to take it?

mymama · 06/11/2005 11:31

Am in Australia and have never heard of milk banks. Can I just ask some questions about this?? Do they screen the donors for diseases etc??? Do the donors have to be non-smokers, non-drinkers and stay off high allergenic foods such as nuts??? What about if you start taking any meds - do you have to stop donating????

Nome · 06/11/2005 11:56

Mymama,
Yes, yes, and yes. You have to complete a lifestyle questionnaire about smoking/drinking/etc, have some bloods done (for HIV/Syphillis/etc and if you take paracetamol (for example) you are told how long they want you to wait before expressing again.

Donated milk is pasturised as well.

jenkel · 06/11/2005 12:15

What a shame I didnt know about this earlier, with both my dd's I produced tons of milk and it seemed such a shame to waste it. I would have been more than happy to have donated some.

mymama · 06/11/2005 12:16

Thanks for the info. The idea of a milk bank fascinates me. Australia is insurance mad so wouldn't imagine it would hit off here. Too much risk of future claims against contaminated milk or something blah blah blah.