Rachel

Thank you very much for replying with info about the Norwegian donor milk 
policy and practice.  Wonderful story about the Somali mother!  Thanks for 
explaining.  I see now - mothers are screened for HIV at birth - so that it 
would not be possible for an HIV+ mother to provide breastmilk without 
having been screened - rather than testing the milk itself for that 
particular virus.  Makes sense.

What a wonderful system you describe.  I'm green with envy!

Pamela

At 08:53 31/01/2006, Rachel Myr wrote:
>Pam asks how milk is tested for HIV.  It isn't, to my knowledge, nor is it
>tested for any other viruses.  If I am mistaken on this I will let you know.
>Milk is cultured for bacteria.  Donors are tested for evidence of various
>viral infections, current or past.  Women with no evidence of CMV infection
>are in demand as donors for the smallest, most premature babies, because
>they are only given banked milk from CMV-negative donors.  If their own
>mothers test CMV-positive, the babies can still have their own mothers'
>milk.  CMV isn't such a concern for babies of higher gestational age.
>
>I recently encountered a Somali woman whose baby was born at 33 weeks by
>emergency CS for cord prolapse.  She vehemently refused to allow her baby to
>get donor milk when approached about it in the recovery area after her
>surgery under general anesthesia.  She requested a clean container and
>promptly expressed enough colostrum to feed the baby then and there, and
>continued to do so from then on.  I removed her staples on day 5 and asked
>her then about her attitude to donor milk, because I was curious.  She
>explained that a woman who provides milk for a baby, becomes its mother, and
>her baby already had a mother, namely herself.  "One baby, two mothers, not
>good!" was her explanation.  "If I die, and of course I hope that I don't,
>insh'allah, then my baby would need another mother.  But I am alive."  Then
>she added as an afterthought, "Some men want to have two wives.  I don't
>like that either."
>
>I have to say it is a lot more fun caring for immigrant women when we can
>converse about things, not to mention how much more I can learn from them
>under such circumstances.
>
>Our practice with regard to testing of donor milk reflects several things
>about Norway: the low prevalence of many serious viral infections in the
>childbearing population, the easy availability of testing for potential
>donors, and the high prevalence of lactation, making it possible for us to
>be choosy about whose milk is accepted for use by premature or ill babies.
>If this were a country with high prevalence of HIV infection, or even
>Hepatitis B and C, we would likely have different policies.  Current policy
>here is to give HIV-positive women cabergoline when the baby is born and the
>option of breastfeeding is not considered for one moment.
>
>Rachel Myr
>Kristiansand, Norway

             ***********************************************

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