Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Donating over 500 oz of Breast Milk!!
As you all know I have been pumping for Caidy. Since I am making a whack load of milk I contacted Children's Hospital Milk bank to see about donating it. I phoned them a month ago and since our freezer has been full I have been throwing out all that Caidy doesn't need. Well today I got a call that they will accept my milk, I just needed to answer some questions and I will need to so some blood work, but everything should check out fine and some babies who need it will be getting some amazing mommy milk! This makes me feel so great! I know Caidy needs my milk and I am doing this hard work for a reason, but what a great motivator to know that other babies who are premature or whose mothers aren't as fortunate to have a great supply will get to benefit as well! YAY this made my day!!
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8 comments:
Well you must know I think this is SO awesome of you to do, Jaime! We bought milk from that bank for the first month of Ronan's life, and even though it was pricey and I wished we didn't need it, it eased my mind a lot that he at least got breast milk for a few weeks. I was grateful we at least had that option!
And, for the babies in the special care nursery and other more dramatic medical problems, this is an extra special blessing! So good for you Jaime!
I read about the milk bank. Is it the kind that people have to pay for? Or is it used by the hospital?
Jessica, I know that they sell the milk, but I am not sure if it is used by the hospital. The bank is located at Childrens so I am now curious! I will ask next week when I am there making the delivery.
I was just curious. I read an American article about milk banks. Apparently, there are two kinds in the states: one in which babies who need it get the milk, the other in which people pay for it. In the second case, the mothers donate their milk for free, and the bank profits! Kind of backwards.
I'm pretty sure it's not run like that in Canada, but I was just curious how it runs because we don't have one here. I'm pretty sure that in Canada, any costs a family pays for the milk are just to cover adminsitration and storage, not for profit.
Anyway, I think it's really great you're doing that! I can't imagine how much work that would be. I hate pumping. I've only done it once with my second baby.
I'm curious what you find out too Jaime. I delivered at St. Paul's and they didn't offer us any donor milk (just formula). I wonder if we would have been given donor milk if I delivered at Children's. Hmm.
But my midwife of course knew about it and wrote us a prescription for it and was a bit pushy to help us get some. They were quite stingy with it (for good reason) and we only got it because Ronan had medical problems at the beginning, which I had to review for the lady who hands out the milk several times when we picked more up. :) A couple times when we called to fill our prescription she didn't have enough for us to buy any.
It cost $2 per little bottle, so we usually were paying $60-$80 when we picked up some, and that would last 4-5 days. I remember thinking that it seemed a bit unfair to families who might need it but couldn't pay the money for it, on top of everything else we paid for to try get bfeeding going. I think for that first month we paid about $250-$300 in donor milk alone. Not complaining, but just stating that it can be a pricey venture to struggle through bfeeding issues.
Anyway, I think they do say it is to cover the costs of processing and testing it, etc. which they told us was expensive, and I don't doubt that - I just remember being very surprised by the cost. But I don't remember much from that month and it's all a bit fuzzy. LOL I'm still grateful we had the chance to get it though and I'm still glad you're doing this. :)
Bonnie and Jessica, I just got a letter from BC Woman's Milk Bank and in it it answers some of our questions. There is a donor Consent Form that I am signing and it states that
"I will not be paid for my milk and my milk will not be sold although a processing fee will be charged to recipients in the community (no charge to those in Children's and Women's hospitals).
So I guess that answers our questions. I know that once they get my milk it is pasturized, or the equivilant without killing any of the good antibodies and such, but it would be nice if I could donate it to a person who actually needs it and couldn't afford it. When I was first looking into doing this I saw that they charge something like $3.00 for 2.5 oz, and that seemed so ridiculously expensive to me. I know I need to do this and not control everything in the process, trusting that God will bless someone who needs this milk with it, but it would be so nice to give it to someone who really needs and wants to give it to their babies. But at the same time if they are using it at Childrens and Womans hospital with no charge, then that is good because those babies obviously need it.
I suppose the pasteurizing, storage, paperwork, etc. would end up being quite a lot. It just makes me mad that there are some American companies actually trying to make money off of the whole situation, when it is the pumping mothers who are doing all the work!
Well, Jaimie, a sick baby needs your milk, even if their family is rich enough to pay for it!
I agree with Jessica - even parents who can pay for it might be needy for it (like us!). So good work. And thanks for clearing all that up! Good to know.
:)
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