Milk Banks

I received this sweet note in the mail yesterday:  

along with this great little gift:

The Healthy Baby Bag had samples of various nursing mommy items, like nursing pads and lanolin.  I appreciated the gift, but I loved the note even more.  I recently had my first experience with a human milk bank and it was excellent. 

Milk banks are something that many nursing moms hear about, but few of us have any interactions with them.  Essentially, they collect breast milk donations from nursing moms and deliver it to NICU babies whose mothers are not able to give their babies milk.  Often this occurs because the mom isn't producing enough milk yet, especially since the baby is unable to nurse and facilitate that wonderful supply and demand process that regulates the body's ability to breastfeed.  The NICU babies are often struggling to make it, and donated breast milk gives them the best possible chances of thriving. 

I became a donor mom when my newborn was released from the hospital after a life-saving lung surgery.  During his stay at the hospital, he was on IV fluids for a couple of days and then began taking breastmilk through a feeding tube.  He started out only taking about 7 ccs an hour, and over time, that amount was slowly increased.  It would be five days before he could finally eat from a bottle.  I pumped the entire 11 days that he was hospitalized in order to keep up my milk supply.  Because it took a while for him to be capable of nursing, I created a huge stock pile of milk in my hospital floor's freezer.  In fact, my milk took up so much space that there wasn't room for other patients' milk, and the nurses had to store the milk on other floors. 

When we could tell that Andrew would be released soon, I began looking into milk banks.  We live several hours away from the hospital, so I didn't want the frozen milk to thaw on the car trip home.  I could've purchased an ice chest to take all that milk home with me, but I knew we wouldn't really need all the milk I'd pumped, and if I did want to have milk for an occasional bottle, I could pump when I got home.  I thought a better solution was to simply donate the milk.

Selecting a Milk Bank

During my internet search, I found a couple of milk banks in the area, but one in particular stood out, Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas.  It seemed very reputable, and in fact, when I inquired about milk banks at our hospital, this is the very milk bank they recommended.  Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas is one of only ten milk banks in the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), and they follow a strict screening process and pasteurization process to ensure the safety of the milk.  Check out the map on HMBANA's website to see if there's a milk bank near you.

The Process

I called Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas to discuss the situation with them and determine which drop-off location would be best for me.  The donor coordinator was incredibly helpful and accommodating.  They made it as easy on me as possible. 

First, I needed a blood test.  As we were leaving Dallas after Andrew's discharge from the hospital, we passed by one of the many locations of a diagnostic center so that I could get a blood test.  The milk bank uses a diagnostic center that has locations all over town to make it easy and convenient on their donors.  My blood test was free (paid for by the milk bank).  I walked in, told the employee why I was there, and ten minutes later, I was finished with the blood work. 

When I got home, the milk bank sent the necessary paperwork to my home.  It contained a lengthy questionnaire for me, as well as information about my doctor and pediatrician.  The milk bank used this information to contact the physicians to ensure that it was OK forme to donate milk.  Specifically, they were inquiring of the doctors if I had a milk production issue.  If Andrew was not gaining weight adequately, the milk bank would not have permitted me to donate my milk--it wouldn't be fair to poor Andrew! 

The questions for me were fairly simple and straightforward.  Primarily, they were interested in any medications I was taking.  I wasn't taking anything to boost my milk supply (such as fenugreek) and I wasn't taking any medications other than prenatal vitamins.  At the time, I wasn't even consuming caffeine, because Andrew was only 6 weeks old, and when I'm nursing, I always introduce caffeine slowly to see how the baby responds.  I had not yet begun consuming caffeine, but even small consumption of it would not have prevented me from becoming a donor.  I filled out the paperwork, put it in the postage-paid envelope, and sent it off to the mik bank.    

The actual donation of milk was the easiest part.  There are multiple drop-off locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but the milk bank made it incredibly easy for me.  Although our hospital, Children's Medical Center, was not one of their drop-off locations, the donor coordinator said that their milk courier regularly drops milk off there, so he could just as easily pick up there as well.  We made arrangements for this to happen, and I was done with the process.  The milk bank tests and pasteurized my milk to ensure the safety of the milk. 

If you're a nursing mom, it's worth taking a look into the process of becoming a milk donor.  Just think of all the little babies you could help out!  The milk bank does ask that donors pledge to give a minimum of 100 ounces over the course of your baby's first year of life.  Since mine was a special situation and a one-time donation, they were happy to accept any milk I had to give, even if it wasn't the 100 ounces.  My grand total?  90 ounces.  While I was disappointed that it didn't meet the 100 ounces, I'd only pumped this milk over the course of two weeks, and the milk bank was incredibly pleased to receive it. 

I've recently discovered that you don't have to live near a milk drop-off spot to be a milk donor.  Milk banks will be happy to send you the packaging necessary to make your milk donations through the mail.  I'm considering doing this, since I'm already a registered donor, but I need to get in the habit of pumping for that to happen.  My experience with a milk bank was incredibly positive, and I would encourage anyone who is interested to become a milk donor. 

Here's a great article in USA Today about the value of milk banks.  It's also important to be aware that there are risks to informal milk sharing, which is one reason why I loved donating to a milk bank.  I knew they would properly handle my breast milk to keep the little ones safe from any contamination.

Would you consider donating milk to a milk bank?  Have you been the recipient of donor milk before?
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