here are some answers to Catherines and Andreas questions this morning. 1. The donor milk we collect is sent only to hospitals and is provided for the baby either as part of the per diem charges or reimbursed as a "carve out" on insurance. Parents are not asked to pay for this under any circumstances since it is a critical part of their sick baby's care. 2. Again, Prolacta doesn't sell to the public. Our milk bank and Prolacta refers all callers wanting to purchase donor milk for use at home to the HMBANA milk bank nearest to them. 3. We are very open with our donors and they are aware that we send our milk for processing to Prolacta and that Prolacta is a for profit company. We also explain that the way that Prolacta processes and tests the milk makes it possible for preterm babies to have a predictable amount of calories, protein, fat and carbs. The main concern we hear from donors is that they want to be assured that all of the milk they donate will end up being given to critically ill babies. Many of our donors have had preemies in the past and understand the value of donor milk and human milk fortifier made from real human milk. 4. We wouldn't want that either.! We're finding that there's a much greater pool of willing donors if they are able to donate in a way that is convenient and local. 5. We agree abd that's why we are totally upfront with our donors on all aspects of how their milk is processed and where it goes after processing. 6. So far all our donors are established at breastfeeding, but we know that there are women who never establish breastfeeding because they don't have any help. We want to provide that help and support and we want to encourage mothers to breastfeed longer. Mothers who decide to donate must provide a letter from theri baby's doctor saying that they can donate and it will not adversely affect the baby. The baby must also be under the care of a pediatrician. We placed a small ad in a local parenting newspaper and got a very good response. Our donors sincerely want to help a baby who doesn't have access to breastmilk or needs fortifier to augment his/her own mom's milk. 5. You're risht, we are not conducting any research at all, but I will look into the document you referenced just to be sure. We would never want to pressure a woman into donating and certainly would not put anyone under duress. The moms who are donors are happy, healthy breastfeeding moms who have excess milk to share. 6. You ar3 welcome! These are all good questions and I appreciate the chance to clear up any misunderstandings. To Andreas question, Yes, mothers are told that we send milk to Prolacta for processing and that once it is tested, formulated, pasteurized and filled into little 10ml oral syringes, it is sold to hospitals for use with preemies. They just want to know that it's going only to preemies and other sick babies. Thank you for the opportunity to share Stacy Brown Two Maids a Milking *********************************************** 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