[loving-my-babies]

I was looking at this from the website where I was considering donating my breastmilk. take a look and can someone explain why you are not a suitable donor if you have travelled to those countries and/or if you've lived in the UK?<br><br>
thanks<br><br><a href="http://www.hmbana.org/donations.htm" target="_blank">http://www.hmbana.org/donations.htm</a>

 

[kofduke]

Don't know for sure, but maybe mad cow disease?

 

[Viola]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is due to mad cow.

 

[loving-my-babies]

but I am pretty sure we had mad cow in chile.. I never had it, but I remember my first boyfriend's mother died from that (I think, and how sad...)

 

[marisa724]

I'm pretty sure it's the same reason you can't donate blood, it's the mad cow thing. My husband can never donate blood again, because he studied abroad in England in 1996.

 

[dawndup]

Right, anything that would keep you from donating blood can also keep you from donating milk. The mad cow thing is new within the past couple of years, but you're asked that on blood donation questionnaires now. I don't know if that requirement will stay around forever. That's a bummer that it holds you back from donating milk! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"><br><br>
If you can't donate milk to a milk bank, maybe you can call your local LLL and see if they have any mamas that would be interested in it? You can offer copies of your prenatal blood work as proof that you're in good general health... and maybe sign something saying you're a non-smoker, non-drug-user. I bet your extra milk can still go to good use!

 

[Beth-TX]

You may want to find out details--if you've lived in the UK for less than 6 months, I think you can give blood. They've changed the rules recently, so check it out.<br><br>
peace, Beth

 

[loving-my-babies]

I haven't lived there.. I was just wondering, but thanks!

 

[Geofizz]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>dawndup</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">If you can't donate milk to a milk bank, maybe you can call your local LLL and see if they have any mamas that would be interested in it? You can offer copies of your prenatal blood work as proof that you're in good general health... and maybe sign something saying you're a non-smoker, non-drug-user. I bet your extra milk can still go to good use!</div>
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LLL doesn't support mother to mother milk donation (ironic, isn't it? LLL is "mother to mother support"). You kind of have to do it under the table. It sucks, but people around here got in trouble for it. Grrr.<br><br>
Needless to say, there's a lady in this area who has managed to get donations of bm for her adopted baby born at 30 weeks well past his first birthday (He's had formula for about 1 week total since last April). Most of the donations came through LLL connections.

 

[loving-my-babies]

why wouldn't LLL support mother to mother donations? How strange, I always thought they would be the first ones to support it...

 

[Geofizz]

It was a liability issue, I think.<br><br>
Stupid, stupid, stupid.