Thoughts on donor milk

[Missworry92]

Hi there
I have a 5month old baby who is having my expressed milk and formula as I just don't produce enough for him..I've tried everything to get it up but it's still not enough.
I've made a friend few months back with a girl who has a little girl very similar age to my boy. She has donated breast milk to a bank before and she's been through all the checks etc. She over produces and gave me some of her frozen breast milk for my boy.
As she has been tested do you think it's safe to give it to my boy?
She is not donating it to the bank because they did another check on some more milk She was going to donate and it had a tiny bit of water residue from the steamer and wouldn't accept it.
Would you give this milk to your baby if you were in my shoes? The girl is lovely and we get on super well just as I've only known her few months want to see what you all think.

You’ve doubted enough to post on her op. There should be no doubt regarding the origin of the milk you are going to feed the most important thing in your life.

She just said the process is very long and not worth the money in the end.

She was selling her milk?

Odd.

Breastmilk is awesome, but not from someone who sounds a bit fishy.

Bear in mind too OP, that frozen breast milk does lose some of its properties, so it might be worth having a think about whether it's worth it at the moment, especially if your baby is receiving breastmilk from you too at the moment.

Not worth the money? That's not donating it then is it?

Im not a particularly cautious person but strong no from me

Her story sounds weird. How on earth could they tell that there was steam from a steriliser in there (BM contains water and separates out so it would be impossible to see the condensed steam)?
Also ... she was being paid ? This doesn't sound like a standard 'donation' arrangement is she selling it for fetishes?

I would use the donor milk over formula 100%

I am as risk adverse as they come, but after doing my research I brought donor milk (colostrum actually) to the hospital for my second baby as my milk took a while to come in with my first and I didn't want to use formula again.

Nothing in life has no risk. Formula has risks as well. I'd choose donor milk every time.

@DifferentHair

I would use the donor milk over formula 100%

I am as risk adverse as they come, but after doing my research I brought donor milk (colostrum actually) to the hospital for my second baby as my milk took a while to come in with my first and I didn't want to use formula again.

Nothing in life has no risk. Formula has risks as well. I'd choose donor milk every time.

Did you tell them it was donor? We had to lie and say it was mine as they told us donor milk not allowed unless it done by then via the nhs milk bank and only for babies meeting specific criteria ie in neonatal

So I said oh ok that’s fine then I’ll go off and attempt it again and just got donor

@stuckinarutatwork

Her story sounds weird. How on earth could they tell that there was steam from a steriliser in there (BM contains water and separates out so it would be impossible to see the condensed steam)? Also ... she was being paid ? This doesn't sound like a standard 'donation' arrangement is she selling it for fetishes?

Oh there’s a new place selling breastmilk now my friend donates and makes a lot (they make it sound easy and £££) but they seem to reject a lot for odd reasons (I suspect they still use the milk but just pay the donor less )

When you donate milk to a hospital for premie babies, you get paid, this seems standard pretty much across the whole of UK as I understand. I believe she genuinely just wanted to be friendly by giving this milk but I've decided not to use it just for a peace of mind.. I just thought if something happened in the future where my baby developed some sort of condition, I would possibly question it in my head was it from that breast milk so I guess it's best not to risk it.

I have never been paid.

I was asked to breastfeed another baby while I was at the hospital. The mum couldn’t and she wanted the baby to have some colostrum (and I couldn’t express) but as I was already struggling with DS I said no. But had I been in a better state of mind I probably would have fed the baby or provided donor milk.

I looked into donation for a major London hospital. I couldn't do it in the end, but I got a long way through the process, and payment was never part of it.

Surely the clue's in the word 'donation'?

No, you do not get paid.
I have donated to the nhs. Donated means giving for free
My friend sells her milk to a private milk service that sells breastmilk and pays ‘expenses’ up to a max amount per month I think

You do not get paid by NHS milk banks. I had 20 litres odd going spare as I had to express for a preemie who was drinking about 10ml a feed for weeks. Milk bank wouldn’t take it in the end as it was stored in bags, not bottles. But there would definitely have not been any payment involved.

Donation means it's free. You don't get paid for donating milk to preemie babies. You can sell breast milk online though. Is this what your friend is doing?

I'm glad you've turned down her offer though. Your baby is going to do fine with the milk you've managed to provide and the formula.

Millions of babies grow up happy and healthy without ever having had breast milk so your baby is going to be just fine

You don't get paid. I was going to do it but my baby was too old by their criteria.

Would she show you any paperwork?

@kiwiPlumapple I was prepared to lie but the midwife was a lactation consultant and so she knew all about donor milk. She was really supportive of it and so was my OB.

I'd go for it. But I've breastfed other peoples' babies in a pinch.

Yup. Would be preferable over formula for me.

Hmm having read more of the thread then I'm not so sure.

With my friends who pumped I knew them and their lifestyles and wasn't at all concerned should my DC need their milk ever.

My preemie had donor milk in hospital. I will be forever thankful, but the donors don’t get paid.

Just give your baby formula. It's a lot safer than donor milk from some randomer. Donor milk given to preemies is processed before it's given to them.