Would You Nurse Another Mom's Baby?by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 23 Jul 2009 01:32 PM More and more moms are deciding to share their breastmilk with a baby who is not their own But would you do it? Here are the options. When nursing each of my children, my cups runneth over, pretty much literally. I could nursing my little one to his or hearts content and still pup out three to four ounces of milk per side on a good day. Because I am a big believe in breastfeeding, I looked into the possibility of sharing my milk. I ultimately decided not to do this, but I did learn a lot about the different opportunities. The most sanctioned way of donating milk is by becoming involved with a milk bank. The nursing mom goes through a battery of tests to ensure that she is healthy and not carrying any disease. The milk is collected through a breastpump and frozen until a certain amount is collected. The mom then either delivers, or more likely, mails the milk in a container with dry ice. The milk reaches the bank, is screen and then heated to a high temperature to kill any germs. The downside of this method is that during the heating process, valuable immunity properties can be destroyed. Also, milk purchased from the bank can cost as much as $5 an ounce making it pretty unaffordable to most. With informal sharing, a nursing mom pumps and then shares her milk directly with another family. The moms involved may know each other, or they may have come together through a site such as MilkShare, which recommends testing but doesn't require it. Many people like this method because it is more personal. The nursing moms get to see the babies they help, and the families get the milk for free. For more a more direct supply, some families choose to employ a wet nurse to directly breastfeed their child. Yes, wet nurses still exist. They may live in with the family or nurse part of the time and deliver pumped milk the rest. Finally, the most personal method of all is called cross nursing. With this method, moms share the nursing responsibilities for their children. Both babies are nursed by both moms. This may free moms up to work part time or be away from their babies. Proponents of cross nursing say that they love the intimacy of the practice. Cross nurses obviously need to live close to each other. What do you think? Would you nurse another baby or share your milk? Related Articles: How to Increase Your Milk Supply Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantbaby tags User Comments Samual (11722) 23 Jul 2009 01:45 PMMy sister breastfed our youngest and donated to milk banks until her daughter was 6 months, which is the cut off stage for breast milk in the UK. Here nearly all breast milk donated is used to feed premature/ill babies in hospital. Samual (11722) 23 Jul 2009 02:37 PMYeah, after 6 months the breast milk has changed so much that a newborn would not be able to digest it properly and a premature baby would have even greater difficulty digesting.  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 24 Jul 2009 04:49 AMThe milk banks I know about here in the US will take milk at any age. They do try to match the age of the donor baby with the age of the recipient, but all milk is welcome. Some small programs are even using it to help gravely ill adult patients.  Michele Cheplic (37349) 24 Jul 2009 05:19 AMI'd do it. I know a mom of twins who has donated her breastmilk, much to the chagrin of her MIL.  Kimmama |
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