Donor Milk screening

[sharr610]

Hi there!

I was hoping some of you mamas might be able to help me out. I have a dear friend who is pregnant with a little girl due in Oct. She was also just diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Bummer al around, but amplified by the fact that she is a huge breast feeding advocate and she will, based on her treatment plan, not be able to breast feed.
She has asked me to help arrange donor milk and screening for her, which I am pleased as punch to do, but don't even know where to start. Is there a standard screening process? Are there banks that will do it for you and allow moms to donate to a specific mom? My idea was that I could direct her friends that want to do this to a specific screening test, have them bring me the clean results and then arrange weekly drop off times for her.
The baby will be premie, as they are needing to deliver at 33 weeks to continue with agressive treatment. Are there things the mamas donating should absolutely NOT do(besides the obvious drinking/drugs/smoking).
Should I turn this over to someone else? I really want to help her, but worry that I don't have the medical training I need...

TIA!

[azedazobollis]

If I were you, I would have her post on Milkshare as "seeking a donor in the _your local area__" Have her write out her situation and see if you get any replies. It's a great way to search for a local donor. After that, when you locate a donor, deal with her personally to see her way of eating, lifestyle and blood results from HIV, hepatitis, and anything specific to her needs. Milkshare is super!!!

[SleeplessMommy]

One Mom that I read about (breast cancer survivor) had an in-home milk pasteurizer.

http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/200...k-sharing.html
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/paren...ilk/index.html


It may depend on the "risk tolerance" of the mom - the alternative is to pay a milk bank for purified milk from highly tested donors. I think the pasteurizer is a great choice.

[liz-hippymom]

milk banks provide milk for mamas in this situation- and i am pretty sure insurance will cover it

[SleepyMamaBear]

i am a milk recipient. i second what pp said, post on Milkshare. there is even a link in my sig.
pasturization kills all the good stuff, no need for it.
mom to mom donation rocks.
screening for HIV, Hepatitis, and STDs is good, and is usualy done by the donors HCP when she is pregnant or at 6weeks pp.
also, the usual, no heavy drinking, no drugs, no smoking applies.

[mytwogirls]

Originally Posted by SleepyMamaBear

i am a milk recipient. i second what pp said, post on Milkshare. there is even a link in my sig.
pasturization kills all the good stuff, no need for it.
mom to mom donation rocks.
screening for HIV, Hepatitis, and STDs is good, and is usualy done by the donors HCP when she is pregnant or at 6weeks pp.
also, the usual, no heavy drinking, no drugs, no smoking applies.

Yep, what she said!

[svmaine]

Ditto on everything except the insurance companies. I know they're all different so it's worth looking into but when I checked with mine about getting donor milk covered, I'm a severely low supply mama, I got a response of "donor milk isn't medically necessary"...hummm...if I physically can't feed my baby, and he needs milk to survive...I think that should qualify as medically necessary insurance companies!!!

On a more positive note I've posted in the MDC local areas and BF'ing Challenges looking for donor milk and have received 100's of oz's, in fact my DH is picking more up today:. I'm also in contact with a local midwife and she's hooked me up with some of her patients that were willing to donate and I work at a hospital where the LC has hooked me up as well. There have been dry spots so we always have to keep the formula around:, but for the first 3mths he was on exclusive milk:!

You are a dear friend to arrange all this, :, good luck to you and your friend.