I did some research on blood and blood component donation for myself a few years back.  Most blood donation centers will allow a breastfeeding mother to donate whole blood (they usually restrict donation if you've been pregnant w/in 6 weeks).  My local center also allowed apherisis (blood component) donation while breastfeeding.

The anticoagulant typically used is acid citrate dextrose.  Citrate binds calcium in the blood.  Hale (at the forum) notes that this is unlikely to enter milk and would be rapidly metabilized by the mom.  He also notes that it's present in fruit juice.

Another potential concern would be loss of blood volume and dehydration.  However, the total amount of fluid removed is low with apherisis, lower than with a whole blood donation.  With plasma donation, there would also be a transient loss of blood lymphocytes.

This mom would likely want to check that her donation center allows donation while breastfeeding & confirm the anticoagulant used.  She'll want to be sure and drink plenty of fluids the day of donation to replace blood volume lost.  I'm surprised to see that any centers still pay for donations, however.  I thought that ended with AIDS.

Cheri Kannarr, LLLL (with my first Lactnet post!)
Davis, CA, USA

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