Breastmilk Donation
Years ago, with my first child, I was honored to be able to donate breast milk to the milk bank in NC. That was back when I volunteered at WIC as a breastfeeding counselor. I initially heard about it at WIC, but couldn’t find any real information about it. I spoke with my La Leche League (huge supporter here) and they were able to point me in the right direction.
It was actually quite easy, though I’ve never been one of those women who had milk to spare. I was thankful that they were so laid back about how frequently I sent in the shipments. It was pretty cool too. I received a free rental to a hospital grade Medela pump, a styrofoam container, TONS of specimen containers (enough that we used the extras for snacks and craft containers until people started getting freaked out LOL) and money for dry ice packing/shipping.
I haven’t thought of this in years, until I came across b5’s new breastfeeding blog:
Jill Youse, a mother in Columbia, Missouri, read about the orphanage on the Web while she was nursing her 10-month-old daughter. She spread the word and collected 24 gallons of frozen breast milk from local mothers inspired by the success of the orphanage. Global express carrier DHL generously shipped the milk to South Africa free of charge.
If you are nursing now, check with your local La Leche League to see if they can point you in the right direction. It’s been 8 years now, so I don’t have the number offhand. ;)
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POSTED IN: Breastfeeding, Child health
10 opinions for Breastmilk Donation
angela
Oct 9, 2006 at 8:09 am
Robyn, I’m so impressed that you took the initiative and made the effort to donate milk.
The best way for people to find a LLL leader or group in their area world-wide is to go to
http://www.llli.org/Webindex.html?m=0,0,2
Karen
Oct 9, 2006 at 9:23 pm
What a worthy cause! I had no idea that people were shipping breastmilk overseas.
I have a friend that has talked about selling her breastmilk. I guess there would be a demand for it.
robyn
Oct 10, 2006 at 11:20 am
$7-$15 an ounce!
robyn
Oct 10, 2006 at 11:20 am
Oh, meant to mention, they used it at the milk bank for premies AND for cancer/chemo patients.
Karen
Oct 10, 2006 at 12:50 pm
$7-$15 an ounce is crazy!!!! That just seems like robery.
Giving it to preemies and cancer patients is a worthy cause though.
angela
Oct 10, 2006 at 1:40 pm
So that’s why they call it “liquid gold”! ;)
robyn
Oct 11, 2006 at 9:41 pm
You know, when it takes a half hour to produce 2 oz, it seems fitting. Don’t worry, had they paid me that the hospital would have charged them a cool $50, I’ll bet.
I HATE hospitals! Well, if you need them then they’re good, but being in debt for 2-5 years after your kid is born to a hospital is nuts.
Karen
Oct 11, 2006 at 9:50 pm
I know what you mean. When my DD was born I still had to pay about $2500 for my doctor visits and my medical care, even with BCBS insurance.
I saw the bill for DS and the actual bill itself was way more for him, even though I stayed one less day in the hospital. It seems they know which companies they can charge, and which they can’t.
kellys
Oct 13, 2006 at 7:07 am
I had a friend that got sick and ended up in the hospital for an ER visit while nursing her son. She had to pump and dump but didn’t want to introduce formula at that time to him. I happened to have about 45 oz frozen in my freezer that were fixing to expire so I gave it to her. I was just trying to figure out what to do with them as my daughter wasn’t needing all that milk at the time. What a blessing from God that I had extra and she was in need. At that point, I could have made $650. Man did I miss out. However, my frined probably would have paid more than that for her little boy.
And yes, it is liquid gold!
Karen
Oct 13, 2006 at 12:59 pm
In case you all haven’t figured out, Kelly and Robyn are real sweeties. Definitely good friends willing to help out.
Kelly, you know the Lord has blessed you for your donation!
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