Milk Donation .... has anybody done it?

[Millie1]

I'm just wondering what's involved, ie. how many times a day did or do you find yourself pumping and how much milk do you provide? Strikes me as something well worth doing but would like to know what's involved from my end before contacting our local-ish milk bank.

Thanks!

I would have loved to have done it but local hospital weren't interested.

I think you have to have a few tests first to check that everything's OK (HIV etc as far as I know).

Good luck!

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I did it last with last baby. A midwife from the special care baby unit came and collected the milk from my home. She brought sterile milk bottles each time she came. There was no pressure to prosuce a certain amount - I just expressed whenever I felt like it. I usually aimed for 4 oz a day. I kept donating till dd was just under one year old.

Thanks Ladies. Have contacted the milk bank and am going to start donating ASAP.

I've just donated my last lot as DS2 is now on solids and not feeding as much from me, hence not so much to give away!
I used to express 8oz every morning. One day I'd freeze it for DS2 and the next day I'd put it into 2 4oz bottles for the milk bank. They came to collect it when I'd run out of bottles! Like Mears said, there's no pressure to produce a certain amount as some babies can only manage 1oz at a time.
I was really glad to do it as I had real problems feeding DS1 and I am so chuffed that it is all working this time! Also, both my niece and godson were in SCBUs when they were born so it is good to "put something back" so to speak.
Good luck!

Some months after we stopped donating, I was invited to bring my daughter to a party for the children who had graduated from SCBU. It was wonderful to see all these hearty healthy kids zooming around screaming.

My local milk bank (oxford john radcliffe) will take the drips that you produce while feeding from the other side (IYSWIM) so you don't have to express either! just collect what you would throw away (or wash) in a breastpad! easy peasy!

Its very easy to do because I was expressing for by DS anyway, and it was taking over the freezer. The only possible downside was that I over produced - could easily fill 9oz in 10 mins from a hand pump!! as a consequence my boobs are covered in stretch marks!! Next time I do it I will only put pump out 4oz each time rather than get carried away and try and fill the big advent bottle.

Also to bear in mind is that the most valuable milk is that produced in the first 15 days after giving birth. I didn't realise this and only started from 1 month in.