Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would use breastmilk from a milk bank. It is screened. It saved my friend's son when he got Necrotizing Entercolitis (NEC). He was born at 25 weeks and his intestines could not tolerate anything else. It is no more "gross" than milk from an overmilked cow standing in it's own feces. I'm confident the human milk was aquired under better conditions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sparksharp
No problem crisan...I hope we're cool at this point.
I'm just kinda curious so I'm gonna throw the question out there. How many Moms on this board would prefer to use a breast milk bank over formula if they had to choose one or the other. Any takers?
No problem crisan...I hope we're cool at this point.
I'm just kinda curious so I'm gonna throw the question out there. How many Moms on this board would prefer to use a breast milk bank over formula if they had to choose one or the other. Any takers?
I would. The mothers who donate are screened. Not just anyone off of the street can donate their milk.
If I had a kid who required breast milk and I was unable to breastfeed, I'd use whatever method I could to acquire breastmilk. I'd probably try to find someone I knew who was breastfeeding, or still lactating following the weaning of their own, first. If I were unable to find someone I knew who could do this for me then sure, I'd check with a milk bank. Why not? We drink milk from cows, and we don't know the name of the cow we just drank from do we? I love goat cheese, and goats are pretty filthy animals, as animals go. But I never worried that the cheese wouldn't be delicious and healthy and safe to eat.
Also, all those studies that've been posted - I notice they include countries that don't have alternatives to mother's milk. So of COURSE the breast-fed kids are gonna be healthier. If you have a choice between the milk of your mom, or the raw milk of a cow that is undernourished herself, in a country where disease is prevalent, baby formula ingredients are not regulated or standardized, and innoculations are rare, then yeah. It's a no-brainer.
Are you talking about the study related to the Caribbean and Latin America? I believe that is the only one posted that includes other countries. Nestle formula is heavily marketed worldwide and Nestle Nan formula is very popular, particularly in Latin America. I know it happens (even here in the US) but most people aren't just giving their child raw cow or goat's milk in place of formula.
In order to formula feed you need to make sure that the water that you are mixing it with is sterile. You need to sterilize the bottles properly every time. You also can't skimp and water down the formula in order to cut costs. All of these things are much more likely to occur in developing countries but also occur on a smaller scale here in the US. All of these factors play a role (in addition to other factors) in breastfeeding being a public health issue.
I guess I'm just out of the loop on what's going on as far as feeding one's baby. To me it's unimaginable that someone would rather use a strangers breast milk rather than formula. It's hard for me to fathom personally and I have to be honest...it leaves me shaking my head almost in disbelief.
But...I'm 53 years old and apparently a whole lot of stuff has changed since I had infants to feed. My oldest daughter who has the two boys decided to bottle feed rather than breast feed as she was going right back to work after the first one was born. And then she had difficulties after the birth of her second child so breastfeeding was also out with that one. She almost died with the second one...I thank God she's still around as at one point she was only given a 20% chance of survival. She had an amniotic embolism...and lived to tell about it. God is good! (No offence to all you atheists or agnostics out there intended!)
I guess there are risks either way one goes, so to each his own and hopefully the babies will all survive and be healthy and happy. But...I have to admit that if one of my daughters came to me and said "Mom...I'm gonna feed my baby with donor milk", I'd say she was nuts and seriously try to get her to rethink that one!
I guess I'm just out of the loop on what's going on as far as feeding one's baby. To me it's unimaginable that someone would rather use a strangers breast milk rather than formula. It's hard for me to fathom personally and I have to be honest...it leaves me shaking my head almost in disbelief.
But...I'm 53 years old and apparently a whole lot of stuff has changed since I had infants to feed. My oldest daughter who has the two boys decided to bottle feed rather than breast feed as she was going right back to work after the first one was born. And then she had difficulties after the birth of her second child so breastfeeding was also out with that one. She almost died with the second one...I thank God she's still around as at one point she was only given a 20% chance of survival. She had an amniotic embolism...and lived to tell about it. God is good! (No offence to all you atheists or agnostics out there intended!)
I guess there are risks either way one goes, so to each his own and hopefully the babies will all survive and be healthy and happy. But...I have to admit that if one of my daughters came to me and said "Mom...I'm gonna feed my baby with donor milk", I'd say she was nuts and seriously try to get her to rethink that one!
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. Breastmilk 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.
But...I have to admit that if one of my daughters came to me and said "Mom...I'm gonna feed my baby with donor milk", I'd say she was nuts and seriously try to get her to rethink that one!
Even if they baby's doctor gave prescribed it? Some insurance companies cover the cost of donor milk with a prescription.
Even if they baby's doctor gave prescribed it? Some insurance companies cover the cost of donor milk with a prescription.
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.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
