Rachel Myr wrote:

'There are two main aspects involved in safely providing donor milk. One is
screening of donors, according to whatever safety measures are standard.
The other is testing of the milk itself, since in theory every portion of
expressed milk has the possibility of being contaminated, or improperly
handled. Even if the donor meets all the criteria, it isn't possible for a
milk bank to ensure that all the milk expressed by that donor, meets the
hygienic standards set for institutional use of donor milk. I believe our
milk bank tests batches of milk regularly for bacteria levels.'

Good point, and hadn't thought of that. Though I would think that (assuming good commitment to hygiene on the part of the donor) in practice the risk would be no higher than that of giving your baby your own pumped milk, which would normally be accepted as perfectly reasonable.

My question about whether the would-be informal donor could be tested by the milk bank wasn't over whether they could guarantee the safety of her milk - which I completely agree they could not, medicolegally speaking - but over the feasibility of this woman basically arranging the same kind of safety screening for herself that she would get if she were formally donating milk, so that, if she does want to donate informally, she could do so with as little risk to the recipient as possible. Basically, I was thinking in terms of the milk bank knowing all the different things that she should be screened for. (I'm not coming out with an opinion for or against her donating the milk - just thinking in terms of risk reduction if she does decide to do so.)


Best wishes,

Sarah

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