Talk to me about donating Breastmilk

[TripleRock]

I'm due DC2 in 3 months and would really like to donate bm this time.

Can anyone talk me through how this works? Can you start right away or is it best to wait a few weeks? Do you express at home? Do I need to do anything now? I'm not currently feeding as DD weaned early on in my pregnancy.

You need to find out if you have a milk bank nearby that can take your milk. If there is one then they have someone you can talk it through. For me it involved having a blood test to check I was suitable, and you had to do a healthcheck (are you a smoker etc.) and confirm how much you could express - they said it wasn't worth it for tiny bits, so I had to be realistic about how much I could pump. I didn't do as much as I intended, but could usually get 6-10 ounces a week. I didn't start til DC was about 4 months, it took a while for me to feel I could manage it, practically (fitting pumping in). Then did it til he was 12 mths. They brought the stuff round (I had my own pump, think they would have supplied one), and expressed at home whenever I could manage it, kept it labelled in freezer at home and they picked up once a month. The hardest thing was fitting it in, and in the early days finding some time when DC didn't want the milk and I could express any at all. This got easier around 6 mths when he went longer between feeds and also he started a few hours childcare.

I expressed with my others, but used it all with DC1 to give me time out, and with DC2 she refused bottles, so I gave up expressing, and was a bit busy with the two kids so couldn't manage it. For some reason things felt easier with 3 kids so I managed it third time round. It felt good to do, and I think it kept me feeding longer with DC3 than with the other two, which is what I wanted.

Good luck, its a lovely thing if you can do it.

I donated to Birmingham milk bank. They have a questionnaire to see if you're suitable (like giving blood, infectious diseases/tattoos etc) then they post you a load of bottles and labels. You can donate until your baby is 6months. They recommended not starting until bf is established I think 8 weeks. They said I had to meet a minimum of 2,5l (25 bottles). You just pump and freeze the milk. I then had a blood test and a man on a motorbike came to collect it all!
I didn't find it too much effort and would do it again. The only thing is to make sure you have the freezer space x

Exactly as others have said here in London too. I'd wait until you're confident feeding your DC and have a little time. You can find details of milk banks at www.ukamb.org. Good luck, it's a great feeling

Oh but no minimum and existing donors can continue past 6 months. So there's clearly some variation.

Wow. Just wanted to say how much I admire you all. Such an amazing gift for prem babies! x

Also in London and couldn't donate past 6m either time. Yes, freezer space is a huge issue. I had to say that I wouldn't be able to donate if they needed to wait for 25 bottles - we have only a fridge-freezer and I'd have had to choose between storing milk or storing the meals I'd prepared in advance for us to eat after DC2 arrived. The bottles would have filled 1.5 of our 2-drawer plus icebox freezer!

Ask if you can get the blood tests done before the baby's born (unless it's same hospital you're giving birth in, in which case do it then). I found it quite difficult to get two trains and a bus into central London with my newborn DC1 in a pram, feeding 1.5 hourly, after an EMCS! I think the return trip ended up taking about 4.5hrs when it would have been an hour and a half pre-children.

Get a decent pump. To start with I had only a hand pump - slow and painful. I then bought the Medela Swing but with hindsight should have bought a double pump.

And finally, don't worry if it doesn't work out for whatever reason. With DC2, I ended up donating very little indeed (and actually ended up throwing some out as I didn't have enough for collection within the time limit of expressing). He had a 65% tongue tie, I had mastitis three times in the first 6 months and was given antibiotics for that, which precluded donating (though the milk was still safe for my own baby) for a certain amount of time, and also suppressed milk production temporarily so I needed all I had for DS. You never know what can happen so don't feel under too much pressure - whilst every little helps, you do need to put yourself and your own baby first. If you're exhausted and stressed, it's going to have a negative impact on milk production anyway.

Good luck with it.