would like to donate breastmilk... is it too early?

[Maria2007]

hi everyone,

I have a 6 weeks old little boy (my first baby) & so far we've been exclusively bf (have just started a bottle of expressed milk per day too). I am very interested in donating a bit of breast milk to our nearby neonatal unit at hospital... this is because both my nieces were very premature, & I know from my experience with them how breast milk was needed at the time, & how very little is enough for them. My question is- do you think it's too early to be thinking about this? Also, how often would it mean I would have to express & donate? And would it create problems with bf my son? I've noticed, btw, in the last week or so, that my breasts are once again quite engorged, & leak quite a lot, so I'm wondering whether expressing more, in order to donate, will create problems with oversupply?

Anyone who has had experience with donating please let me know what you think is best.. and how the process usually works.
Thanks!
Maria

IIRC, it was about this stage that I started donating - supply is well established and you can obviously express efficiently.

I cointacted the milk bank at our local maternity hospital - there was a leaflet about it in the pack of stuff I received when I was in hospital. If you can't find it - ask a midwife - they should be able to point you in the right direction

Have you had a look at this website? www.ukamb.org It gives contact details for the milkbanks so that you can see if there is one near to you.

Maria

I would talk to the local milk bank, but provided that you are comfortable that feeding is well established then I doubt it is an issue. My daughter got donor EBM and I later donated.

How often and how much is up to you. If you are choosing to express daily you could set aside some of that for the bank. It doesn't have to be very much- I used to express about 30-40ml per day in th emorning and freeze it every two days. I was told by the bank that they actually liked this as they find it easier to manage small amounts efficiently.

Usually you are sent single use sterile bottles and you call the bank when they are full, and someone comes to collect them.

Thanks Lizzy! I'll call the local hospital, where I gave birth (I assume that's where the local milk bank is?) & will start the process. It sounds very doable the way you describe it...

By all means start with your local hospital, but bear in mind that only about 10% of the UK's maternity hospitals have banks. If they are not helpful, it is worth contacting UKAMB (the link's already been posted) to see if any other banks are likely to collect, eg because a staff member lives near you.

HTH

By all means start with your local hospital, but bear in mind that only about 10% of the UK's maternity hospitals have banks. If they are not helpful, it is worth contacting UKAMB (the link's already been posted) to see if any other banks are likely to collect, eg because a staff member lives near you.

HTH