Milk donation for premie and need advice for Placenta Previa

[is it puppies?]

A dear family member has complete placenta previa (she's 20 weeks along), and while we won't know for sure till the end of the month it looks as though the placement is such that it likely won't move and she'll have to have a CSection and from the info out there it will probably be around 36-37 weeks.

She is of course really really hoping to exclusively breastfeed, but having a csection and the recovery as well as the fact that the baby will likely end up in NICU being pumped full of formula it doesn't bode well. She's already looking at getting a postpartum doula who is a LLL leader, and trying to figure out what else to do to set things up for the best start possible. What else should she be doing in preparation? Any resources I should point her towards?

Now for my part- my DD is 20 weeks old and exclusively BF. I happen to have a medela swing purchased for me by the family member above which I haven't used yet mostly due to laziness and no pressing need. I have offered to start pumping and stashing milk now in an attempt to prevent formula from ever having to enter DFMs baby while she is trying to establish BF herself. Is this likely to work? I mean, will they giver her baby my frozen milk in the NICU and what do we need to consider? If this seems at all likely to work, how much should I stash and should I start now? What do I have to consider while pumping so that I don't mess things up for myself (ie oversupply).

Also- is my dear family member going to have to taste my milk when she defrosts it? She says she won't and I think one has to to make sure it's still good. I don't want to waste my time if she won't be able to use it for a reason like that!

I will crosspost in BF forum.

Thanks for any advice!

[konayossie]

Originally Posted by is it puppies?

Also- is my dear family member going to have to taste my milk when she defrosts it? She says she won't and I think one has to to make sure it's still good. I don't want to waste my time if she won't be able to use it for a reason like that!

Thanks for any advice!

I hope your family member's baby is healthy enough to stay with mom when delivered. I had a c/s under different circumstances (my DS was 38w), but we didn't have any breastfeeding troubles other than my milk being on the latish side coming in (>72 hrs).

As for tasting your frozen bm--why would she need to taste it if it's been stored properly and used within the dates? I have pumped and fed DS my own frozen milk and never once felt compelled to taste it. I do give it the "sniff test" if I'm concerned, but that's it..... I also donated my frozen colustrum-y early milk to an adoptive mama (total stranger), and I'm guessing she didn't taste it!

[Bokonon]

I think that would be wonderful if you pumped and set aside some milk for her, but I don't know that it will be necessary.

If she does deliver at 36-37 weeks, the baby may not have to go to the NICU at all, and she may be able to nurse shortly after her c-section. I nursed my 34-weeker a couple hours after she was delivered. She did have to go to the NICU later that night, but I started pumping right away and she never got formula.

Even my 32-weeker never needed formula in the NICU, because I was able to pump more than enough for him.

You won't know by the taste of the breastmilk if it's good or not - I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be good, and it would definitely be preferable to formula.

[is it puppies?]

Originally Posted by konayossie

I hope your family member's baby is healthy enough to stay with mom when delivered. I had a c/s under different circumstances (my DS was 38w), but we didn't have any breastfeeding troubles other than my milk being on the latish side coming in (>72 hrs).

As for tasting your frozen bm--why would she need to taste it if it's been stored properly and used within the dates? I have pumped and fed DS my own frozen milk and never once felt compelled to taste it. I do give it the "sniff test" if I'm concerned, but that's it..... I also donated my frozen colustrum-y early milk to an adoptive mama (total stranger), and I'm guessing she didn't taste it!

WE are all hoping for the best but preparing for the worst! I am glad that she won't have to taste it, just that that's what I've read.

[jcregan]

I would encourage her to tour and talk to someone at the NICU soon. My daughter was full term but did have a few days in the NICU for a needed surgery... the one I was at was very BFing friendly. She did not have a drop of formula while there. I slept overnight in a parent room at the hospital, they called me when she woke up and I went down to nurse her every 2-3 hours. I used their pumping room and freezer to store a bit of milk in case it was needed (once if finally came in enough to have something to store), etc.

Most of the moms of the preemies or babies staying longer seemed to BF if possible and if not they would pump and store their milk in the freezer there and the nurses defrosted it and used that for food. I saw very little formula being used!

One day we were having problems with getting her to latch and the nurse simply called the lactation consultant for me in order to get some advice and help.

I can only hope that the NICU that the baby might end up in would be as accommodating and BFing friendly - she should definitely talk to them!

[MsBlack]

just want to say...not so terrible to taste someone else's breast milk! LOL

Once I was babysitting my granddaughter (3mos old) and defrosted some milk and heated it...then put a drop on my wrist to test the heat...and then, without thinking at all, I licked it off my wrist. It was very sour. I'm not sure what was funnier/grosser--tasting my daughter's milk, or that it was spoiled!

Anyway...no biggie. I was glad I accidentally tasted it. Who knows how it went bad. But in future I always tasted a tiny bit to check.

[is it puppies?]

I am glad to see so many people were successful BFing their premies and NICU babies! that is very hopeful. I have had a number of friends lately who have failed at BFing it seems mostly due to having c-sections/traumatic births and I really want the best for my family

[MeepyCat]

My heart goes out to your family member. I was in her shoes last year - previa is just a wretched complication.

I do want, however, to defend the NICU staff a little: They aren't excited at the notion of pumping babies full of formula. When my DD was born (at 32w4d), she received parenteral nutrition for a few days, before transitioning to colostrum and then to breast milk. We did fortify the breast milk to get her extra calories, but they were thrilled to be able to give her food that benefited her immune system.

For your relative: First, give her my sympathy.

And now I want to say "Second..." but there isn't just one second thing.

Previa sucks rocks, and by the time I got to my (emergency, unscheduled, pre-term) c-section, it was honestly the least stressful thing that had happened to me in a while. Yeah, I was having a surgery I had feared, but I wasn't lying around waiting for the other shoe to drop anymore, and that was awesome. And the situation was such that everyone I dealt with expected me to be afraid, and knew to help me deal with that. (There is no guarantee that your family member won't run into insensitive people, but previa attracts crowds - they're likely to be outnumbered.)

Many previa patients wind up delivering before term. If, at any point, she develops an unstable hemorrhage, they will want to deliver the baby immediately. They like to talk about scheduling at 37 weeks, but that's a best case scenario and she should keep some contingencies in mind. Also, if she's been waiting on finding a pediatrician or buying a carseat, she should stop doing that.

I would encourage your family member to do some research now. Tour the NICU, talk to doctors, consider whether she wants to switch hospitals for any reason (better NICU, closer to home, whatever). She should also look into the hospitals closest to where she lives, because in an emergency, the closest appropriate hospital is where the ambulance will take her.

[is it puppies?]

thank you for that, meepycat!
I have forwarded her the thread to follow, not sure if she's on mothering or not but there's some great info here.
her Preg has already been hard on her (normal stuff though) so she might not be up to looking into a lot herself.