Jaye,
  I did not receive the mailing from National Milk Bank, so I can't  
speak to what they have done, but I think you are raising the right  
questions about non-profit milk banking and paying mothers. For  
centuries, mothers were paid to provide their milk to others, as wet  
nurses and then as donors to early milk banks. It supported many  
families and helped many babies. When and why did it become a middle  
class volunteer thing?

The issue of mothers selling their milk and therefore not having  
enough for their own babies is an important ethical issue. In fact,  
it is addressed directly in Moslem law where cross nursing is common  
and for many reasons, including this one, they are very reluctant to  
sanction milk banking.

We don't like the idea of a for-profit company making their money on  
volunteers. It devalues the hard work and unique "products" that  
women have to offer. Reasonable.

Here's my question: If we could resolve the issue of milk donors  
being paid in an ethically sound way, and there may be a way to do  
this, we just haven't thought about it enough, then would we have a  
problem with a for-profit milk bank? What else would we want to see?  
For profit is not in itself a bad thing. Who should be at the table  
to hash out the ethical and practical issues? The business world has  
its own agenda, so they certainly can't be the only ones at the  
table, but neither can they be ignored. Who else should be there?  
Donor mothers? Recipient parents? Experts in Business ethics and/or  
medical ethics? ILCA? HMBANA? Who will get the conversation started?  
What forum? I don't think the for-profit milk banks are going to go  
away and they could provide an important service to mothers, babies,  
hospitals. Not to replace the non-profits, but I don't see  
communities throughout the country having the resources to  
wherewithal to set up milk banks. Perhaps for profits has a role in  
this work as well.

I would love to see some sort of forum to begin to address these  
issues, but I'm not familiar enough with the infrastructure of the  
medical/business/MCH community to know where to begin.

Just some thoughts.

Naomi Bar-Yam


--------------------------------
Naomi Bar-Yam Ph.D.
[log in to unmask]

Researcher, Writer, Educator
in Maternal and Child Health
--------------------------------


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