I’m Halima’s mom.

What Laureen and several other women have done for us is amazing. I am still mourning the loss of my breastfeeding relationship with Halima, although I often feed her through a Lact-aid and she suckles for comfort as well. The biggest thing that has taken the “edge” off of the pain for me has been the milk donations. Knowing that she’s getting such good healthy milk, plus the connections I’ve made with amazing women has helped me move from “why would I be given a child and no milk with which to feed her?” to “I wish I could feed her but since I cannot, this mama circle has closed ranks around us and I feel so blessed.”

Tears in my eyes on a daily basis, I tell you.

I was never able to pump any amount of reasonable milk so I’ve never been able to donate that way. However, I have plenty of supply from nursing itself and have done that on occasion when needed…..helped out with other babies while babysitting them (all with full permission of the mom of course)……..it’s really not that unusual. If for some reason bfing hadn’t worked out with one of my babies, I would have been looking for donations like crazy.

I think the squick factor is part and parcel of the whole HIV scare thing. And also, just a basic squidgy perception of most people in our bfing-ignorant society that breastmilk is a bodily fluid, so therefore, sharing=ick. Doh!

If you are looking for resources that discuss milk sharing and wet nursing, check out “Milk, Money, and Madness” by Baumslag and Michels. LLL probably has it. Not a huge discussion, but there is some in there. By now the book is a tad dated, but still a good read. You could probably borrow it from a LLL chapter somewhere.

If you are a history fanatic, there is an interesting set of historical novels by Ellis Peters about Prince Llewellyn of Wales. The narrator was a “milk brother” of Llewellyn, iirc, because his mother was L’s wet nurse. Was very frank about how close they were, almost like blood brothers. That set of novels was the first I’d ever heard of the concept. The novels are a bit long and heavy on the historical detail, but on the whole are quite interesting reading. A fascinating time period, and lovely to see how accepted the whole milk-sharing idea was back then.

Just thought you’d be interested to hear about those resources.

http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/uichildrenshospital/milkbank/index.html

They might know of other milk banks attached to hospitals that are NOT for-profit ventures. I think it’s really sickening that women would donate of their very bodies and then have some creepy corporation charge other women for that gift.

With my first born I was pumping several times a day. We had an entire freezer stocked with frozen milk for a while. I don’t know why, but I was always worried that something would happen where we might get separated and that she’d need my milk. A few months later, realizing DD was not even remotely interested in a bottle, we tossed it all. I so wish we had known of someone who could have used it. I’ve always been blessed with an abundance of milk.

Thank you for sharing, my friend. Just in time for world breastfeeding week.

If I could find a babysitter willing to nurse my son, it would be so wonderful. I hate pumping, I’m never able to get much from it. Breastfeeding is such an emotionally driven event for me, that a pump just doesn’t cut it. Even while breastfeeding on the other breast!

I want to pump & donate every time I have a baby. I pumped once a day in the mornings and, once I got my body adjusted, would be able to pump 6-8 oz per day. Zari didn’t seem to suffer at all. I’d nurse her when she woke up, then pump whatever was left over.

I know how hard I would try to find breastmilk if I were unable to nurse my own baby. That motivates me to help others out.