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From:
Susan Burger <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 8 Jun 2006 08:07:09 -0400
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I think there is a lot of research supporting the use of donor milk over formula, including the 
study on pooled human donor milk that was randomly allocated to premature infants in Great 
Britain which showed a 10 IQ point difference among those lucky babies than got the donor milk 
rather than the formula.  Since this was a totally random study, that evidence is very strong. I don't 
have the reference, but the previous post should give you good references.

At the same time, I would highly suggest a simultaneous review of ethical practices in setting up 
the milk bank so that it is set up in such a way as to not interfere with mother's producing as 
much of their own milk as possible as well as not interfering with the health and wellbeing of 
mothers who donate.  Norway has what I consider the best model for this so I would read Rachel 
Myr's postings on the topic. 

My posting on the Schanler study was to illustrate that this clearly confirms other research that 
went into the WHO rankings of mother's own mllk first, followed by human donor milk.  If you look 
closely rather than just reading the abstract, the data also suggest but don't have the same size to 
confirm what you will find in the other research that was suggested to you that formula should be 
at the very rock bottom of the rankings.  As I mentioned in many postings before, the sample size 
of the Schanler study was not sufficient to reveal what look like biologically substantial differences 
between the human donor milk and the formula group in Necrotising enterocolotis and Late onset 
sepsis.  The differences were about a 3 times greater risk in the donor milk group versus a 5 times 
greater risk in the mother's own milk group.  For such serious illnesses, this is a huge difference, 
but the low sample size means we can't say if this just due to chance alone.  Moreover, the groups 
were not "pure".  As part of the protocol of this study, formula was given to a fair proportion of 
the infants in the human donor milk and the breastfeeding group so there may have been a 
greater difference in some of their outcome measures had they been able to reduce the use of 
formula in the MM and DM groups while still maintaining these infant's growth.   Fortunately, 
there are more articles out there that will give you ammunition for starting a milk bank in an 
ethical manner.

Best regards and good luck with your project!

Susan Burger

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