Anyone every donated milk to a milk bank for use in the NICU of some hospitals?? I am looking into doing this, but I don't know where to donate to. I want to make sure that the place is for real and that my milk will be used for these sick infants and not used for research. Anyone have any luck with one??

I haven't personally; however, a few moms in my LLL group do. I can get you some info, if you'd like. :-)

It's fairly easy to do--you just have to adhere to some common sense rules (wash your hands before pumping, make sure your pump/parts are clean, use clean/unused milk bags, etc.). Most milk banks are reputable--they honestly do use the milk for NICU babies or babies whose mothers have suddenly been unable to b'feed (accident/illness, etc.)

I think it's so sweet that you want to do this! :hug:

I would contact the local LLL or hospital to see. I know that in Denver, where we used to live, there is a large milk bank. They don't sell the milk - only donate it - and it is pastuerized and tested first too.

I had a similar question before Josh was born - we didn't plan to bank his cord blood but wanted to donate it to someone who needed it. My OB/GYN told me that she had looked into as well and found that there are very few places in the country who do this. That seemed so odd to me. Anyway...off topic, but it was the first thing I thought of when I saw your post title.

How's your new baby doing? :binky:

I too think it is a great thing. It has only just come in here, in the last couple of years and only one hospital does it, but it is a great idea!

I was going to suggest a place I'd heard of in Denver, too. A friend (that I'd made while D was in the NICU) and fellow pumper was verrrrry productive, so she was looking into donating some of her milk. I'm not sure if she ever did.

Thank you for considering this. NICU babies need every advantage they can get!

What a sweet idea! We have several local moms that donate their breast milk to South Africa for AIDS/HIV infants. Our local paper ran a series of articles on them. I'll see if I can find a link.

Here's one of the stories:

http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2006/oct/20061004news003.asp

I actually did look into the one in denver, but wasn't sure if it was reputable. I will have to ask at the ped's office when I go next month. I am back to work and pumping at work and I have found that I produce a lot more than Chris eats so I thought that this would be helpful. My chiropractor actually asked me if I was willing to donate my milk and since then I have thought about it and done some research on it and think I am going to do it. I know that I have to get bloodwork done and some DNA typing done as they match my DNA to the milk to make sure that I am only donating my milk. I also will have to have our ped and my OB/GYN sign off saying that I am healthy and that Chris is being adequately fed as well.

The one in Denver is VERY reputable, Sarah. It's at the hospital where Joshua was born and is in the news frequently for all the good stuff they do.

This is the parent organization for the milk bank, and they have other locations besides Denver too:
http://www.hmbana.org/index.php?mode=locations

Opps - forgot to tell you that Chris is doing very well. He was 13 lbs at 2 1/2 months old however I am starting to wonder if he doesn't have reflux as well, just not as bad as Sam did. He is starting to arch his back during feeding and he is spitting up a ton now. He never spit up before but now is so much that it will go down into the couch cushins if I am not paying attention. I just don't know if it is due to him being fed breastmilk in a bottle more now that I am back to work and he is getting more air?? I just don't know at this point. My only saving grace is that if he does have reflux he is a happy spitter, but I know that does just as much damage.

Oh well, for now he is happy and content and doing very well. I have tried to post pictures, but I can't seem to get them small enough to post in my siggy. I will have to try again soon.

Thanks for the update on Chris! Feel free to PM me and I can get a picture up for you.

LOL - you got my interest peaked in the Milk Bank idea so I did a quick search. This is a really good article from LLL about MIlk Banks:
http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVAprMay00p19.html

Miori - I have looked at that web site and it says to donate to the closest location to you so that would be Iowa. I think I will call them and get more information. This one also appears to be in the hospital there as well.

I know that at one of the sites they only wanted milk from a mother that was nursing a child under 6 mo old. THere was a second site that I looked at that would take milk from a mother with a nursing infant of any age. What they did was separated off the fat, then mixed the skim milk together with a bunch of other donars. They then pasteurized it and added back the fat so they could tell the hospital the caloric content of the milk. This was obviously a larger operation than the smaller milk banks.

I will also try to contact my local LLL and see if they could suggest one to donate to.

Thanks for all of your help!!

Thanks - If I can't get it figured out I will send you a pic to post for me. I think I just need to upload it into photobucket and I just can't find the time to do it.

Sarah, I just saw this, but I think that's very, very sweet of you! I thought about it as well, but never did...we don't have a program around here.

Miori, I asked about donating the cord blood too, but our hospital didn't do it either. Of all those programs that want you to bank, why aren't there more to donate??? If it could have helped someone, I would have felt a lot better. Even if it had gone to research, rather than just being wasted, kwim?

I used to d the "milk run" for the National Childbirth Trust in Cambridge(UK) when we lived there. Mums who 9like me) had copious amounts of milk would either express or collect leaking milk in sterile containers and, providing they had had clear AIDS/HIV/HEPB bloods we would collect and take it to SCBU (NICU) . It is a REALLY worthwhile thing to do, there has been a lot of research done in the UK in recent years which demonstrates how formula can actually cause damage to a premie's gut. Breastmilk really is the best thing for all babies, but most especially those born early.

Kate x

I just heard back from my friend (the LLL leader). She said there are two very reputable milk banks that she knows of:

Human milk banking association of america
National milk bank

I'm sorry--it's nuts here today and I didn't check to see if either of these were links that others had given you. In either case, you can google search these places and see if either has a site near you.

Glad to hear little Chris is doing so well...and sorry that he, too, might be a little refluxer. :-(

What an awesome thing to think about doing...I hope that you are able to.

Nice to hear update on new precious little baby! :yahoo: I hope he stays a happy spitter!

I filled out the forms to donate. I guess it is a waiting game to hear back from them. They will first contact my dr and Chris' dr to make sure that I am healthy ane that Chris is gaining weight properly - don't think there is a problem there!! Then I will receive a blood testing kit to take to the clinic to get checked out for AIDS/HIV/HEP A, B, C/ and syphillus. Sorry don't know how to spell it. I selected a milk bank in Minneapolis MN since it is the closest one to me and hopefully the milk will stay in the Midwest.