Other Peoples Breast Milk

Quality

Very interesting documentary on Channel 4 last night..

Did anyone see it? How did you feel after watching it?

Would you allow another woman breastfeed your child? Would you be willing to BreastFeed another womans child?

Do you know anyone who has done this?

Kate Garraway - herself the mother of a two-year-old daughter - investigates the pros and cons of cross-feeding, breast-milk donation and wet-nursing by meeting some of the growing numbers of women who share each other's milk. "I'm on a journey to find people who believe milk has to be from the breast," says Kate, "people who buy it, sell it, people who give it away and people who even feed each other's babies. To many this might seem weird, but they challenge us that it's actually much weirder to give our babies cows' milk than it is to drink milk from another woman. It's a journey I won't forget in a hurry."

The people Kate meets include sisters who cross-feed their babies; women who are able to breast-feed even though they have never been pregnant; surrogate mothers who produce two gallons of milk a week for donation; and a cancer sufferer who believes breast milk has cured his condition.

Link

marti101

Yes i watched this and found it very interesting,whether id let anybody breastfeed my baby the answer would be no,its to personal and intimate.

Nevyn

My grandmother was a wet nurse for the rotunda hospital, but she expressed and her milk was used for premie babies, so on that end I think that is a good thing, and find it daft we don't have a breastmilk bank like in other countries esp for infants who are sick and need it.

Would I have suckled another woman's child ?
Not with here being other options, if I had an over abundance I'd share but would not put another's child to my breast unless there was a great need.

I do know that this is common in other cultures, where breast feeding is prevelant.

Oryx

I think if you remove the physical contact element most people wouldnt have a problem. We take other peoples blood, breast milk is a pretty mild thing in comparison. So the only issue seems to me to be the physical bonding that goes on between child and the breastfeeding mother/wet nurse. We are very tied up in this culture with bodies being personal possessions, that of our own body and bodily contact with our closest others. Going outside of this with intimate contact (which is how wet nurse breastfeeding is seen) can be considered odd. So for the mothers anyway, I see it as a perfectly fine idea if you want to do it and have overcome this physical privacy conditioning we are programmed with.

I didnt see the programme so I dont know what the feeling is on the bonding of the baby, whether this is an issue that might cause some kind of confusion with an infant?

nesf

I wouldn't find it odd that other people would want to do it but I'd completely understand why a lot of people wouldn't consider it something they'd do with how intimate feeding a baby can be for people.

lostinnappies

im sorry i wouldnt, breast feeding is a very personal thing and helps bonding with your child. Why would anyone want their child to bond with another woman. Id rather bottle feed, babies have been bottle fed for years and arent any the worse for it.

glynngo

funny thing is, i could feed another baby, but wouldnt want my baby to be fed by another woman..

Dfens

Thaedydal wrote: »

My grandmother was a wet nurse for the rotunda hospital, but she expressed and her milk was used for premie babies, so on that end I think that is a good thing, and find it daft we don't have a breastmilk bank like in other countries esp for infants who are sick and need it.

There is a breast milk bank in 'Ireland' - Co. Fermanagh - read a very emotional newspaper article on it about 6 months ago where a lady was expressing for her niece & another lady who donated a lot of frozen milk after her wee angel passed.
More info here http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=9550

Nevyn

Co. Fermanagh is part of Northen Island and part of the U.K. and is not part of this country.
So we don't have one in the country and while there is one up north it is not as accessible
as having one here in the republic.

Dfens

+1 which is why Ireland was written in my post as 'Ireland'.
Although I think it did say in that article that they would provide milk to people in S. Ireland if requested but don't know how easy/hard that might be.

marti101

I have offered my services so will let you know if i hear anything back

Dfens

marti101 wrote: »

I have offered my services so will let you know if i hear anything back

I'm delighted to hear that, I am thinking of doing the same also. I had actually forgotten about the milk bank since reading the article whilst still pregnant a few months ago until this thread came up recently.
Found the bank's 2005 newsletters (link and link), they mentioned having donors from Cork, a freezer for donated milk in Holles St. & thanked the bus inspector in Athlone for helping to organise transportation of donations.

tallaght01

Donated breast milk is a really good idea for preterm babies.

Initially they get fed intravenous fluids, but you have to start them on milk at some point.

The problems is that when they start on feeds, they're very prone to a number of problems, particularly a nasty gut condition called necrotising enterocolitis. Preterm babies can die from this condition.

Feeding them breast milk instead of formula can prevent necrotising enterocolitis. In many cases the mum can express the breast milk. But in those cases where they can't, then donated milk can literally be a life saver. They often only get a few mls per day anyway.

I woldn't fancy my kid having breast milk off another woman if they were a healthy term baby, though, in honesty. I would just find it a bit weird. If the missus couldn't breastfeed, I'd be pushing for formula instead.

marti101

Dfens wrote: »

I'm delighted to hear that, I am thinking of doing the same also. I had actually forgotten about the milk bank since reading the article whilst still pregnant a few months ago until this thread came up recently.
Found the bank's 2005 newsletters (link and link), they mentioned having donors from Cork, a freezer for donated milk in Holles St. & thanked the bus inspector in Athlone for helping to organise transportation of donations.

Emailed them and got an email back saying its on hold so i dont know what the story is.

Dfens

marti101 wrote: »

Emailed them and got an email back saying its on hold so i dont know what the story is.

I called them this morning to sign up (048 68628333) & spoke to a very nice lady called Ann, so she's sending me out a starter pack....

miders

i think the whold idea is rather disgusting. if you cant breastfeed or dont want to breastfeed your own child then bottle feed. i would not dream of ever giving my child some other womans milk and if it was donated a strangers milk.

Dfens

You are perfectly entitled (as is everyone else) to their own personal opinion of whethar to breast or bottle feed thier child.

I think you may have missed the point in the donation of milk, it is not meant for full-term perfectly healthy babies. The donated milk is used for premature babies & young infants who are/have undergone serious surgery to correct congentital abnormalities.

Necrotizing enterocolitis is a very serious intestinal disorder that premature babies can die off - their gut rots away basically (link), it is quite common in premmies but evidence is pointing to that if these babies are given breastmilk rather than formula the chance of occurence drops dramatically (link).

Sometimes it is simply a case that the baby's mother cannot produce enough milk, or is so sick herself that she has no milk for her premature baby. I find it very hard to believe that many parents faced with the decision of whethar to give their struggling premature baby every possible chance of survival would say no to donated milk if they were offered it.

Donors are asked a number of health & lifestyle questions as well as undergoing infectious disease tests in order to qualify as a donor, in addition the milk is pasteurised.

MoominPapa

miders wrote: »

i think the whold idea is rather disgusting. if you cant breastfeed or dont want to breastfeed your own child then bottle formula feed. i would not dream of ever giving my child some other womans milk and if it was donated a strangers milk.

Fixed that for you. You don't explain why you find it disgusting - wanna explain?

miders

if you want to get technical its artifical feeding.

i personally think its disgusting because its a bonding skin to skin intimate experience and to give that experience to another woman (as was portrayed in this progamme)is appalling. the baby will be totally confused as to who is ther mum. they regonise the smell feel taste touch and soft and look of their mum while breast feeding!!!

on another note if it greatly helps a sick baby id tolerate donating but not in the full experience of breastfeeding.

for a full term healthy baby there is no reason to give that baby some other womans breast milk.

Quality

miders wrote: »

if you want to get technical its artifical feeding.

i personally think its disgusting because its a bonding skin to skin intimate experience and to give that experience to another woman (as was portrayed in this progamme)is appalling. the baby will be totally confused as to who is ther mum. they regonise the smell feel taste touch and soft and look of their mum while breast feeding!!!

on another note if it greatly helps a sick baby id tolerate donating but not in the full experience of breastfeeding.

for a full term healthy baby there is no reason to give that baby some other womans breast milk.

I think the programme showed quite clearly that the children, were not confused as to who their mothers were.. This was proven when one of the babies would not latch on to its wet nurse when its own mother was there to feed it..

Also by the mothers stating, that the children always knew who their mom was..

MoominPapa

miders wrote: »

if you want to get technical its artifical feeding.

I wanted to make the distinction between formula and expressed milk feeding.

And then what Quality said:)

Crea

"if you want to get technical its artifical feeding" - miders

No - if you want to get technical then formula feeding is artificial feeding. Breast milk be it the mothers own or someone elses is natural feeding. The program was quite straight in showing that it didn't affect the mother/child bond. It isn't intimate, it's practial - it's a feeding device, it's only our own stupid hang ups that think nipples are some sacred, private, intimate things. If I was bottle feeding a baby while giving it a cuddle isn't that intimate? Skin to skin is disgusting? Oh dear!

miders

CREA i was stating merely that formula feeding is artifical feeding.

i do think a womans breasts/nipples are ones own and should be respected as ones own.

i think i have as much right to air my view as you without having my head bitten off.

i never said i think skin to skin is disgusting as i did plenty of it with my OWN child my problem and when i think its disgusting is when a stranger is having skin to skin and breastfeeding anothers child.

the glass woman

miders wrote: »

my problem and when i think its disgusting is when a stranger is having skin to skin and breastfeeding anothers child.

What about the chinese police woman who while walking around the devastation after the earthquakes decided to sit and breastfeed starving babies. This, in my opinion, was the most gentle and simplist way for her to make a real difference.

Crea

miders wrote: »

CREA i was stating merely that formula feeding is artifical feeding.

i do think a womans breasts/nipples are ones own and should be respected as ones own.

i think i have as much right to air my view as you without having my head bitten off.

i never said i think skin to skin is disgusting as i did plenty of it with my OWN child my problem and when i think its disgusting is when a stranger is having skin to skin and breastfeeding anothers child.

If you saw the programme you'd have seen that none of the women were strangers, they were family or close friends.
The exception was the babysitter but she was just dodgy.

marti101

Im breastfeeding at the minute and i wouldnt like anybody else to do it for me.It was one of the main reasons that i wanted to do it also id have no bother donating milk to premature babies but feeding/letting somebody breastfeed my child the answer would have to be no.Its to personel.

Khannie

Sounds like an interesting documentary. Going to watch it this evening. Thanks for the heads up.

Crea

The milk bank is currently looking for donors to help all the very premie and sick babies.

The Milk Bank can be contacted on 048 686 28333 or email @t-m-b@live.co.uk.

The bank is based in county Fermanagh, but sends milk all around Ireland