Breast Milk Banks Offer Options For Moms
Experts: Be Careful About Source Of Donated Milk
POSTED: Monday, March 30, 2009
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Some new mothers who can't produce their own milk or have a sick baby are getting milk from other women over the Internet.Kate Cook donated to a breast milk bank after her first son, Jackson, died when he was less than 4 months old. She said she wanted to help other mothers who have sick babies."It's such a helpless feeling to see your child sick, and you want to give him every advantage that you can," Cook said.Lactation expert Becky Mannel said mother's milk contains more nutrients than commercial formulas."Certainly, babies who are formula-fed are more likely to be hospitalized," Mannel said.She said that Internet breast milk banks have become more common to help families. She said that some people are still unsure about using them."I think probably the biggest concern is that it's an unknown commodity," Mannel said. "Mom doesn't know who or where it's coming from."
What Should You Ask Donors?
Web searches can help mothers find electronic bulletin boards where women offer to donate their milk. Mannel said there are some things that prospective users of breast milk banks should find out about."Has the donor mom herself been screened? Is she a smoker? What else is going on in her background where you might be concerned about the quality of the milk?" she said.Mannel said it's simply a matter of playing it safe."If you're paying for it, and you're buying it from somebody that you know nothing about, and you're going to give that to your baby, would you do that with something else? I don't think you would," she said.There are licensed milk banks online, such as the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. HMBANA screens donors over the phone and has them take a health questionnaire and a blood test. A doctor is also required to sign off on the results. The milk is donated to mothers who have prescriptions for it.HMBANA's president said that it shipped 1.4 million ounces of breast milk to women in the U.S. and Canada last year. She said not one baby has caught a disease or died in the 35 years that the nonprofit organization has been collecting milk.Cook said she does not donate online. She gives away her extra milk to a hospital collection site that sends it to a milk bank in Texas that's strictly for sick babies.She said she hopes her efforts help other mothers have a healthy child.Copyright 2009, Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The story Breast Milk Banks Offer Options For Moms is provided by LifeWhile.
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