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I would use donor milk over formula for sure, especially if I had a premature baby. Donors are screened, the milk is tested and pasteurized. I'm not sure why someone would think that milk from a cow is better than milk from your own species. I just don't get that. But most people don't have the option of milk from a milk bank because there are not many banks in the US and the milk is very expensive and often requires a prescription. Therefore, it is mostly used for hospital-admitted premature babies, for whom it is most important. My SIL had access to free donor milk in her hospital and chose formula instead though because of that "ick factor", which really disappointed me. (I also offered to pump my own milk for her to use for her baby, which she also refused, despite the fact that she knows me well, we are family, she knows my lifestyle is healthy, and I feed it to my own baby of course)
Equally important in factoring in, is what the mother is eating, drinking, her stress levels, her estrogen levels, any medication and/or supplements she's taking, the toxins (or lack thereof) in her home environment (black mold, loose asbestos or old exposed fiberglass insulation for example), and anything else that can affect mom's health. Her own immune system is likely to be compromised due to the sheer exhaustion of being a mom to a newborn.
If a mom is eating crappy food, or is drinking more than the occasional sip of wine during a weekend dinner, or is taking pain meds that contain aspirin, or is not getting physical exercise (oxygen into the blood and lungs), or is suffering from PPD badly enough, all these things can affect the quality of the milk she's giving her child.
I'd worry more about mom, than I'd worry about the formula. Formula in the USA is standardized, instructions are specific, a routine can be easily followed. Breast Milk isn't standardized, the instructions all depend on the mother and her health and diet and a host of criteria, and a routine can't always be easily followed.
studies have shown that maternal nutrition has only a minor effect on the composition and quantity of breast milk produced. Usually, unless a mother is severely malnourished, her milk is fine. Mothers whose diets are poor deplete their own energy levels, and may become anemic, but their bodies will continue to produce the milk their baby needs by pulling from the mother's energy stores at her expense, but not her baby's.
As far as PPD, when a mother breastfeeds, the hormone oxytocin is released. This is known as a feel good hormone associated with feelings of calm and decreased anxiety. Some doctors suggest that oxytocin works in ways similar to anti-depressants. It can be helpful for women to breastfeed through PPD and there is no evidence that PPD effects the quality of a mother's milk (although stress can effect the quantity).
Obviously, breastfeeding mothers who drink excessively or use drugs incompatible with breastfeeding are putting their babies at risk. Unfortunately those same mothers were likely to also drink excessively and use drugs during their pregnancies.
A lack of physical exercise is not a factor in the quality of a mother's milk.
If there are toxins in the Mother's environment, there are toxins in the baby's environment whether she breastfeeds or bottle feeds.
If a Mom is formula feeding you still need to worry about Mom considering she is the one responsible for ensuring that the water she mixes the formula with is sterile and that she is consistently sterilizing the bottles and not using formula that has been sitting out for hours or not using enough formula. There is a lot of room for user error.
It wouldn't be about the cost for me at all and whether or not it was prescribed by a doctor is beside the point...it's just the idea that nobody really knows where that donor's been or who she's been with. I wouldn't know anything about her history and it may not even be one "her", it may be many "hers" donating to my baby. I don't know the details of how they are screened and even if I did it wouldn't be enough for me to choose that method over choosing Formula. The blood banks screen their donors too and we've all heard about the slip ups with that. To me, the donor method would be a much more scary proposition than the Formula.
Do you know the history of all of the cows who have contributed to the formula?
Do you know the history of all of the cows who have contributed to the formula?
No...not everything...but cows are usually raised on farms where they get routine vet attention and injections / vaccines as necessary. They eat green grass / straw and drink fresh pond water. We don't really know if a woman has grown up with routine doctor visits, inoculations, etc. We don't know her eating patterns either. So...yeah...we may know more about that cow than we do that woman.
It wouldn't be about the cost for me at all and whether or not it was prescribed by a doctor is beside the point...it's just the idea that nobody really knows where that donor's been or who she's been with. I wouldn't know anything about her history and it may not even be one "her", it may be many "hers" donating to my baby. I don't know the details of how they are screened and even if I did it wouldn't be enough for me to choose that method over choosing Formula. The blood banks screen their donors too and we've all heard about the slip ups with that. To me, the donor method would be a much more scary proposition than the Formula.
I totally agree. What if one of the mother's had some horrible contagious disease that passes through breastmilk and the screening didn't catch it. You can't catch any life-threatening disease from formula.
Then again I am a germophobe so that factors into my not wanting to give some other woman's breastmilk to my baby. What if the mother wasn't the cleanest person in the world and didn't bathe regularly or collects her breastmilk in an unsanitary way. These thoughts make me shudder in disgust.
No...not everything...but cows are usually raised on farms where they get routine vet attention and injections / vaccines as necessary. They eat green grass / straw and drink fresh pond water. We don't really know if a woman has grown up with routine doctor visits, inoculations, etc. We don't know her eating patterns either. So...yeah...we may know more about that cow than we do that woman.
Moo!
Why do you think they sell conventional cows vs. grassfed cows? Grassfed cows are also touted as being antibiotics-free. This is why the now sell conventional formula vs. organic formula. I think I just read that the FDA claims that use of antibiotics on animals is a threat to human health.
I find this current line of discussion very interesting.
If my wife could not breastfeed and the baby absolutely required breastmilk, I think my first instinct would be to reach out to immediate family and close friends to see if anyone is capable of donating. Failing that, I would not have a problem using banked milk. When you are in an accident and need blood, you don't scream NO, I don't know where that blood came from. If it is a case of using banked milk or the baby dieing, then by all means, give me the banked milk.
If it was a case where my wife could not or decided not to breastfeed and breastmilk was not an absolute necessity, I would choose formula. My reasons would be that we would not need to rely on donor milk, which does carry remote risks and I do find the idea of using a strangers breastmilk a little icky (even though I am well aware that it is common in many cultures, particularly Native American ones for babies to nurse from all mothers in the tribe, but that is a little different IMO). The other reason would be that with such limited supplies available I wouldn't want to use donor milk when other options existed for my baby.
Why do you think they sell conventional cows vs. grassfed cows? Grassfed cows are also touted as being antibiotics-free. This is why the now sell conventional formula vs. organic formula. I think I just read that the FDA claims that use of antibiotics on animals is a threat to human health.
They consider it a threat to human health do to the overuse of antibiotics creating resistant bacteria. The idea is that since the average commercial farm is essentially a disease breeding ground, if the animals are over treated with antibiotics to keep them healthy, it is the perfect environment to breed resistant bacteria that could cross to humans.
They consider it a threat to human health do to the overuse of antibiotics creating resistant bacteria. The idea is that since the average commercial farm is essentially a disease breeding ground, if the animals are over treated with antibiotics to keep them healthy, it is the perfect environment to breed resistant bacteria that could cross to humans.
Correct and this is where formula is coming from is what I was trying to get at. Some posters were concerned about how some human milk might be tainted because it is from dirty people. For some, dirty means, a person who doesn't clean their home, a person who doesn't take care of themselves. To me dirty also means allowing diseases to stay because of unsanitary practices. This is just not visible to us because we don't visit dairy farms. It is visible when we watch TV and see pictures of third world citizens living in poor conditions.
Everything can carry a level of risk and nothing is completely safe despite best efforts. However, the risks of using donated breast milk include acquiring diseases such as HIV. That risk does not exist with formula. True formula can have it's own contaminants, but in the case of salmonella, that risk exists in breast milk as well. In most cases tainted formula will make the baby sick and could result in death, but all of the risks are something that can cured with medical intervention. If you did contract a communicable disease from donated breast milk (remote chance, but it is with blood as well and still happens) there may be no chance of curing it.
I had heard of the issues that you provided links to, but has there ever been a recall for contaminants in U.S. formula? The only one I am aware of recently was the recall of Neocate, which is highly specialized formula generally given in hospitals because it's protein content was lower than what was stated. Even then it was a single lot and not a widespread recall.
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