In a message dated 1/26/2006 9:06:33 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/01/26/btsc.cohen.breastmilk/index.htm
l
As one of the moms who depended on milk from my friend, I have to chuckle at
this newscaster's wide eyed epiphany at "milk-sharing". For those who don't
know, my daughter Cate struggled to gain any weight from my milk alone
(because of post gastric bypass issues) but I wanted to avoid breastmilk
substitute by any means necessary. I was becoming increasingly worried that "formula"
may be the only answer for me, then a wonderful friend in my LLL group
volunteered to nurse my baby. (This was decided between us, LLL was not a factor
in the decision~disclaimer). My daughter gained weight, thrived and made it
through healthier and happier than if I were to give her ABM. Instead of
feeling ill at ease, I was comforted by her willingness to ensure the health of
my baby. Through this experience I found many women who "milk share" albeit
secretively. I remember telling an IBCLC friend what I was doing and she told
me how years ago as a nurse on OB, one of the docs was unable to nurse her
own baby so she would pump and supply the doc with milk to feed her baby. She
said it felt almost like a drug deal, they met in a closet and exchanged the
paper bag of EBM. LOL. No one ever knew. The same woman who I credit with
saving Cate's life also truly saved another baby. This particular baby was
an adopted child, born to meth addicted mother, and adopted by the aunt of
the birth mom. This child had problems with every known formula. She would
feed 4 oz and she would projectile vomit 3.5 oz of it easily. The poor babe
was LOSING weight and even the GI doc didn't know what else to do. My friend
and I looked at each other and both said, "She needs human milk". We told her
what we had been doing, being acquainted with my friend prior to this, she
felt she had nothing to lose so my friend began to pump for this baby. We all
cried as this baby drank 4 oz of her EBM and every bit of it stayed
down..not one bit spit up. Within a week, she had GAINED weight, and now the 4
girls, (my friend's twins, my daughter, and the other little girl) are all
playmates and are all roughly the same size. Happy and healthy. We joke that this
woman could literally breastfeed quadruplets. Though she doesn't want to be
jynxed lol. I have a lot of respect for milk sharing. I agree that you have
to be careful who you are getting your milk from. I wonder about perfect
strangers, if I were going that route, I would try and use a milk bank.
However, if it is my sister, my friend etc. I think I can judge by their
lifestyles how safe their milk is. I also find it difficult to believe that a drug
addict or someone using other risky behaviours are going to be breastfeeding
and donating anyway. Too much work, they have more "important" things on
their mind, if you know what I mean.
No one will ever convince me that milk sharing is wrong. My healthy happy
daughter is proof otherwise.
(http://www.snugglepie.com/)
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|