Would you feed your child donated breast milk?

Donated breast milk originally made me turn my nose in disgust. The mere thought of it just sounds... icky. If I couldn’t nurse my child but gave him breast milk from someone else, how could I ensure the milk wasn’t contaminated with HIV or Friday night’s bar crawl?

But after some research, I changed heart. 

The Human Milk Banking Association of North America http://www.hmbana.org/ sets standards for, and helps establish breast milk banks across the continent. Participating hospitals use the milk for premature infants as well as some babies with other medical conditions. In some cases, healthy babies who’ve been adopted also receive the donations. The breast milk protects immature tissue, promotes maturation and also heals tissue damaged by infection, the website says.   

According to this post on babble.com, some medical professionals recommend premie babies drink donated breast milk because it helps them mature and gain weight. The breast milk provides various nutrients baby formula doesn’t. Many mom’s of premature babies can’t nurse because the mothers’ own bodies aren’t ready yet.

Once donated, the milk is screened similarly to a blood donation. Professionals measure its fat and nutrient content before supplying it to hospitals who then supply it to babies. 

As a mother of a child born with medical problems, these banks are important. For some children, doctors say breast milk is vital to their recovery. My son healed without it, but when your child is sick, you’d go to any length and pay any price for his or her recovery.

One of the other reasons I like this donated breast milk idea is for more selfish reasons. Giving requires little- to no money. A woman can be dirt poor and still donate to this cause. 

I’m concerned about my personal finances, especially with the holidays approaching. Maternity leave and NICUs are awesome, but they aren’t so great for the wallet... I like opportunities to give back without the cha-ching. With the status of my bank account these days is more like cha-clunk. :)

Anyways, what an awesome way for new mothers to give back without dishing out the dough. In fact, she doesn’t even have to leave her home or baby save for delivering the donation. 

To give, donors must be in good health, off most medications save for a meds like pre-natal vitamin and progestin-only birth control and willing to donate at least 100 ounces of milk the HMBANA's website says. In most cases, a woman who can donate blood can donate milk, according to this article in USA Today.

North Dakota doesn’t have a breast milk bank, according to HMBANA’s website, but donors can mail the milk to other centers. The nearest are in Denver, Colo., and Coralville, Iowa.   

For more information on giving or receiving breast milk, visit http://www.hmbana.org.