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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

i tried to be a breastmilk donor

34 replies

ruddynorah · 08/05/2010 17:56

i looked it all up online after watching 'one born every minute' and all the premature babies. remember the thread?

so i checked the criteria, all fine. found my local milk bank, only 5 miles up the road which is pretty good as there aren't many about. emailed the contact person.

she emails me back oh lovely thank you for your interest 'i will ask the NCT ladies if they can collect your donations, and we'll need to do blood tests.'

ok says i, and i add that i could actually deliver the stuff myself, then i wait...and wait....and wait.....

2 months on...are they not urgently needing donors? more hassle than it's worth? easier to buy in formula?

OP posts:
BallpointPen · 08/05/2010 18:04

They may have lost your details. Have you tried calling them or popping in to ask someone?

They are all volunteers at the NCT and The Human Milk Bank, perhaps they're short of staff at the mo.

becksydee · 08/05/2010 18:10

i had the same experience ruddy - got a phone call back a couple of weeks after my initial phone call, was promised an e-mail to set up getting the blood test done and then ... nothing and no reply to my follow up phone call either. shame really, would have loved to donate some milk.

in fact i e-mailed 4 different hospitals in london who have milk banks & none of them replied. bit crap really when someone's offering to express their milk (which is a total PITA) & donate it. ho hum.

luciemule · 08/05/2010 18:12

understanbd about the short of staff thing but as a volunteer ran project, surely they woudl be wanting as many donors as poss and should make returning calls and organising blood tests one of the more important things on list.

tiktok · 08/05/2010 18:59

You really, really need to follow this up and make a complaint about your offer not being responded to....it's very likely your details have simply been lost Totally not good enough, and it certainly needs to be known that systems are not working.

It's unlikely to be anything to do with NCT, by the way. In the areas where they work with the milk bank they depend on the milk bank's instructions. Your delay has happened at pre-blood test stage.

Original poster
ruddynorah · 08/05/2010 19:55

it's all very sad isn't it?

and it's getting a bit late now as ds is pretty much 6 months now, and they like you to be pre 26 weeks when you start.

thing is i've been offered a load of money to do a medical test on my milk when i come to the end of feeding ds. it's testing how a particular drug on the market now passes into breastmilk so you have to be ready to stop bfing but still have enough supply to pump a fair bit over two days. they want to give me nearly £1000 to do it. i've had lots of chasing for that

i await a reply to my latest email..

OP posts:
GracieGirl · 08/05/2010 20:59

I'm donating my breast milk to Birmingham milk bank (an hours drive away). I've had the opposite experience.

I emailed them, they replied within an hour asking me to phone them so they could ask me lots of questions and explain what I needed to do. They sent out a box of bottles to fill and they arrived in the post the next day! They have emailed or phoned every 2 weeks to see how I'm getting on and always send out extra bottles on the day I ask for them.

I'm storing all the milk in the freezer so I can do a drop off every month. I ring when I'm outside the doors of the hospital and they come out and carry all the milk in for me so I don't have to unload my baby or pay for parking.

Its sad that they aren't as helpful in London.

SirBoobAlot · 08/05/2010 21:02

My nearest bank is two and half hours away Am really sad as am now approaching six months, so have past the time limit, but am easily capable of producing up two 10oz extra in 24hours. Wish there was one closer

Original poster
ruddynorah · 08/05/2010 21:56

i'm 5 miles from the centre in halifax, west yorkshire.

i have a very abundant supply, easy to pump.

such a shame

OP posts:
duchesse · 08/05/2010 22:03

It took ages for them to get around to processing me as well. I emailed the coordinator in October, and go the paperwork in December. She told me to start stocking milk in the freezer in the bottles they supplied before I'd even had my blood tests done because they will take milk that's been stored for up to 3 months.

I donate to the Southampton milk bank (via the RD&E in Exeter), and the coordinator there is pretty proactive about answering emails. It's a shame that's not the same everywhere. I drop mine off when I'm nipping into town, usually every 6 weeks or so (I go to town more often than that, just don't take milk in...)

HiccupsAllDay · 09/05/2010 08:17

I donate to Birmingham too and have found them really helpful and quick to respond, maybe worth one last call?

OooohWhatIfItHurts · 09/05/2010 12:32

I had the same experience; emailed King's (London) and no reply. Also now coming up to 6 months.

StarlightMcKenzie · 09/05/2010 12:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

becksydee · 09/05/2010 13:07

Ooooh - King's were one if the hospitals i emailed too, as well as st george's, queen charlotte & guys. guys were the only ones to get back to me but then it didn't get any further. DS is 8mo so it's too late now

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 09/05/2010 13:13

How frustrating.

I live just outside Cardiff and tried while I was both both of our ds's to find somewhere that I could donate to. I contacted UKAMB (I think that's right) for advice but there was nowhere locally that seemed to want it.

Such a shame as there are at least 2 hospitals within 1/2 hour drive with neonatal units and I had a plentiful supply both times.

It seems dreadful that there are peopple willing to donate, yet unable to. Should this be another MN campaign?

GracieGirl · 09/05/2010 22:29

Yes I agree - an MN campaign is needed, I have plenty of friends who would donate milk but don't want to drive an hour to deliver it. If breast milk is the best food for these premature and ill babies and people want to donate it it should be made easy for us.

MavisG · 09/05/2010 22:32

Why the six month cut-off?

duchesse · 10/05/2010 10:58

Brilliant idea for the next MN campaign- Shall I contact MNHQ about it?

trellism · 10/05/2010 12:06

I tried a London milk bank a few months ago: left several messages and nobody called me back. I also left my name and address so they could post me some more information (as requested by the answerphone) but received nothing.

It is a shame as I'm now just past the six month point.

Original poster
ruddynorah · 10/05/2010 17:38

yes, the next mn campaign!

is it a funding issue, or an organisation issue or what? reliance on volunteers? too much work for too few people? i don't think i've ever seen an ad asking for donors. but i expect the hospitals are given formula supplies free from the companies? so cheaper than running and managing a milk bank effectively? what's the cost to savings difference in running a milk bank properly and saving lives through bm rather than fm?

where is hunker?

OP posts:
IwishIwasmoreorganised · 10/05/2010 22:09

Go for it duchesse

OooohWhatIfItHurts · 10/05/2010 23:33

Thoroughly surprised at how many people have had difficulty donating this unique and important source of sustenance. It would be a very worthy MN campaign.

Fibilou · 11/05/2010 18:30

I wanted to donate. Too bad that the nearest milk bank is a 2.5hr train journey from my home

They closed the local milk bank because it was "discriminatory" telling people with HIV and other communicable diseases that they couldn't donate breastmilk. Yet the blood donor scheme doesn't seem to have this problem

SofaKingSpecial · 11/05/2010 19:22

RuddyNorah

Have you tried Countess of Chester? They might venture out as far as you. They're funded differently to the other milk banks (apparently) so can travel further.

They were very efficient when I donated. I live in Southern Derbyshire (so a long way from Chester) and they'd send a volunteer down to pick up my milk. I know he used to come along the M62 to do other pick ups on his way to me so I'm sure he'd go past Halifax.

I struggled to find a milk bank locally which is such a shame. If when I win the lottery that is what I plan to use some of my money for.

It's worth pursuing as it's such a worth while thing to do.

Original poster
ruddynorah · 11/05/2010 19:53

ds is 6 months old next week though, and no bloods done yet so i think i've missed the boat

didn't think of trying a bank further afield to be fair. thought my luck was in having one so very near me.

OP posts:
Fibilou · 11/05/2010 21:16

I wonder how one would go about campaigning to set one up. I would definitely be up for that in my area

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