Thanks to Lavinia who will eventually translate the article about the value  
of Norwegian mothers' milk. That reminded me of what I just "calculated" in 
the  new US Code report document, "Still Selling Out Mothers and Babies." 
Generally,  human milk is not included in a nation's food balance sheets or food 
statistics  (Hatloy, 1997). Infant formula has a dollar value and is often seen 
by mothers  and policy makers as having more worth or value than human milk. We 
know that  human milk is irreplaceable but to not put a value on it could 
suggest that it  has no value (Smith 2005). The gross value of human milk 
production in Australia  in 1992 was calculated at A$1.8 to A$2.5 billion (Smith 
1999). 
 
The price of donor milk could be used for valuing human milk, but if it is  
from a Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) milk bank, the  
$3.50 per ounce is just the processing cost. HMBANA milk is never sold. In  
2005, HMBANA dispensed 713,500 ounces of donor milk and at $3.50/oz comes out 
to  $2.5 million, a cost effective way to prevent expenditure of much more 
money by  the health care system.
 
One mother producing 28oz of milk/day for 365 days would total 10,220  
oz/year. At $3.50/oz, one mother's milk could be worth $35,770, while 2 million  
(half of the 4 million babies born each year) lactating women could account for  
a milk value of $71 billion.
 
Five to ten IQ points per person can be lost by not breastfeeding. One IQ  
point has been valued at $14,500 in lifetime productivity and earnings (Grosse,  
2002). Without these 5-10 IQ points a formula-fed person could lose $72,500 
to  $145,000 - one or more year's salary. If half of the 4 million babies born 
each  year in the US are not breastfed, just a 5 point IQ deficit in such a 
cohort  could result in an IQ loss to the country of 10 million IQ points or 
$145  billion.
 
I wish someone would do a real study on this. Maybe it would be a wake-up  
call to the general public, employers, the health care system, and policy makers 
 to pay more attention to supporting breastfeeding and less attention to 
formula  hype and formula company money.
 
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA
 
Grosse SD, Matte TD, Schwartz J, Jackson RJ. Economic gains from the  
reduction in chilsren's exposure to lead in the United States. Environ Health  
Perspect 2002; 110:563-569
 
Hatloy A, Oshaug A. Human milk: an invisible food resource. FCND discussion  
paper No. 33. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute,  
1997
 
Smith JP. Human milk supply in Australia. Food Policy 1999; 24:71-91
 
Smith JP, Ingham LH. Mothers' milk and measures of economic output.  Feminist 
Econ 2005; 11:41-62

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