Alicia has run into a potential recipient of donor milk who has
reservations.  I don't know about the specifics of Nigerian cultural taboos,
but I can share that I had a Pakistani couple who were Muslim.  They were
delightful and very forthcoming and willing to answer my curiosity about
their cultural perceptions about breastfeeding.  They shared with me that
wet nursing was done very carefully because if a woman nursed someone elses
baby, that baby did become a relative of sorts, and the main issue was that
care needed to be taken later in life to make sure that no marriages would
be arranged that would then break the incest taboos.  So that was very
interesting.

I have a current client, anglo-American woman with a twin who has fused
cranial plates and is facing surgery.  Mom has a low supply, various
challenges, and I am providing some extra support (her main LC care is
coming from WIC).  Anyway, I spoke to her about donor milk for the twin
facing surgery.  She rejected the idea completely because there is no way,
she believes, to rely upon the donors being drug free.  She trusts the
screening for diseases, but not maternal injestion of other substances she
fears.  I was really surprised to discover this was an issue, but it sure is
with her.

BTW, the Mothers Milk Bank at Austin considers Crohns Disease in adults to
be a category where human milk is used as a medicinal.  It would be
wonderful if MDs using human milk as tx for this condition would publish
more case reports on outcomes.


Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html

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