Postpartum Doula meeting in East Bay, Wednesday November 17 — We had wonderful speakers from The Bay Area Breast Milk Cooperative.
The Bay Area Breast Milk Cooperative
The Bay Area Breast Milk Cooperative started by two local breast-feeding mothers ( Beth Rago and Aira Darch- Sharp) in the spring of this year. It started when Beth Rago got a call from Cindy Haag (her midwife) asking her to donate milk to a local family who went through a difficult labor and birth of their daughter. In response, Beth donated as much milk as she could pump, but then put the word out to her mom’s group to see if they could gather some pumped milk for the family. At that point, the question was raised….”why isn’t there a more organized way for families to find milk”?
Going to the milk bank is one way, but seems out of reach for most Bay Area families. At $3-$5 per ounce, it would cost over $100/day to feed an infant breast milk. Some insurance companies are covering it, but most are not. Another source is a website donations can find donors across the country. But why isn’t there a resource in our own local area? How can we connect mothers together that would like to share milk informally?
It begins with keeping track of those who need milk and those who have a milk to share and just connecting the dots. That’s what we are doing and it’s working. Within the first month, a mother looking for milk in San Francisco was able to connect with nursing mothers literally just around the corner from her. She was able to walk a few blocks and pick up breast milk to feed to her baby. The feeling was just incredible.
What is informal milk sharing?
Informal milk sharing is the practice of neighbors, friends, relatives and sometimes strangers donating their own breast milk to another person’s baby. This can be done by “wet-nursing”(actually physically nursing that baby) or by donating fresh or frozen milk to be given to the baby in a bottle.
Why do some women seek donated breast milk?
We mostly see women seeking donated milk who have a medical need. Below are some common reasons:
1) Adoptive Mothers/ A Mother who’s baby is born by a Surrogate.
2) Mothers of babies with a “tongue tie” affliction and have trouble latching.
3) Mothers who have had breast surgery and whose breast are not functional for breastfeeding.
4) Mothers who are taking medication for a disease and cannot breast feed as the medication will pass through the breast milk and is unsafe for their newborn.
5) Mothers who have had a hemorrhage during labor and have lost too much blood volume for their milk to fully come in.
6) A mother with a baby who is having temporary latch difficulties and whose baby is intolerant to formula.
7) A mother with a baby who is not able to make their birth weight back successfully.
8) A father’s wife has died during childbirth, and he wishes to give the baby breast milk.
9) Gay couples adopting a child.
Who gets the milk?
How do we decide who gets milk when there is no enough to go around? We make new babies a priority who are trying to make back their birth weight, otherwise, it’s really about geography. We try and connect donors who are close to each other for an easy exchange. Donors are more likely to donate milk to someone regularly if they are close by. This process is also being refined.
How safe is informal milk sharing?
This is a controversial issue, so we’ve included a hand out on the safety of informal milk sharing. Le Leche League does not support informal milk sharing, although Dr. Sears does under the guidance of pediatrician. It’s unfortunate that the stringent screening and pasteurization that Milk Bank use creates a very high cost passed on directly to the recipient, keeping most families from accessing the very milk the Milk Bank is intending for them. We believe it can be done much more cheaply and effectively. We also believe that infants have a right to the access of human milk. We do not judge the mothers of those infants who choose not to breast-feed or give formula, but we do maintain that breast-milk is made for human babies and that any mother who wants to give their child breast milk should have access to it if is available.
How is The Bay Area Breast Milk Cooperative “Screening“ the donors?
As The Bay Area Breast Milk Cooperative Is not a “Milk Bank” we do not screen donors. We give mothers who are looking for milk Health Questions to ask potential donor and information on how to pasteurize breast milk at home. The Health Questions include questions about lifestyle and medication usage. As we are still a new group, we are still trying to find the donors. We cannot screen donors directly as we would then become liable if something were to happen.
Building Community During Post-Partum:
Post-Partum is such a delicate and difficult time for a family. Difficulties with nursing can make it so much harder for that family emotionally and logistically. Mothers that received milk through our co-op are now lending emotional support to each other, creating long lasting friendships and community. These mothers also help with breast-feeding advice and local resources for post-partum needs.
How Can Doulas and Midwifes Help?
Spreading the word about the co-op is very helpful. We want to let mothers know that we are here and that we can help them find milk if they need it We are always looking for donors, and we would love for you to send your clients with extra milk our way so we can connect them with local family in need.
You can read more at www.bayareabreastmilk.com
How it all began…
The Bay Area Breast Milk Cooperative was founded in the spring of 2010 in response to frequent requests from local mothers for breast milk on the Bay Area Home Birth Collective’s List Serve. Both nursing mothers, we found ourselves connecting local mothers to each other for milk exchanges. Some women were literally blocks from each other and yet were only able to connect through the efforts of our fledgling cooperative.
Local milk banks charge high prices for breast milk, and most insurance companies don’t cover the cost. This leaves most families unable to purchase breast milk for their babies, even when there is a medical reason that the babies aren’t able to get breast milk from their own mothers.
We believe in the power of breast milk. We believe that every baby deserves the opportunity to start life on the best food available, especially when it IS available, for free, from local mothers.
The donations are directly between mothers. Although we provide information on screening donors, it is the recipient’s responsibility to ask health questions to screen their potential donors. We can also provide information on breast feeding, pasteurizing at home, emotional support from mothers who’ve been unable to or struggled with nursing, links to local professionals and articles about the safety of donor breast milk.
If you have comments, feedback or any questions at all, please feel free to contact us! We’d love to hear from you!
warmly,
Beth Rago & Ajira Darch-Sharp
beth@bayareabreastmilk.com or 510-778-3100
www.bayareabreastmilk.com