I wanted to correct a few misconceptions about milk banking. In the US, anyway, and certainly for the milk banks under HMBANA, the process is actually just as strict, if not more so, than blood banking. All donors go through a screening process including in depth questions about sexual practices, travel locales, exposure to needles (tattoos, acupuncture, etc), health history, and more. Donors' blood is tested for the EXACT same viruses as for blood banking (in fact, our local blood bank does the testing for us). Milk is collected under strict aseptic conditions by the donor, with instructions not to donate during times of any illness in her household. No medication consumption is allowed, with a few exceptions (such as Synthroid or progestin-only birth control). The milk is logged in by staff using a donor ID number, and that number follows the milk throughout the pasteurization and bottling process, so that we know where a donor’s milk is at all times. Milk is pooled, pasteurized, and tested for bacterial contamination. A machine that measures carbohydrate, fat, protein composition is used, from which we can get an exact calorie count per oz of the milk. The milk is labeled with batch number and expiration date. We can still identify whose milk is contained in each bottle. 

This is the process that the milk sent to the USS Comfort went through. I’m not sure whether the need for human donor milk on the USS Comfort is great or not. The media backlash is not surprising to me….. but it still saddens me that there may be fear over the safety of the milk. 

On another note, I know there is a huge effort to aid with the continuation of breastfeeding for survivors in Haiti, as well as relactation efforts. I was told by an IBCLC who has worked closely with the Haitian culture that it is a belief among Haitains that if a lactating mother experiences strong emotion, such as fear, grief, etc, her milk will spoil inside her breast and is no longer good for the baby. An enormous challenge will be to change cultural belief in Haiti to convince these mothers to relactate in order to protect the health of their babies. I know several doctors, nurses, and lactation educators on the ground in Haiti who are working towards this goal, and I understand this is a common goal of relief agencies that specialize in infant feeding after disasters.

Karen Wilson, RN, IBCLC

Mother's Milk Bank of Denver
1719 E. 19th Avenue
Denver, CO 80218
303-869-1888
303-839-7336 (fax)

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