My Journey to Becoming a Breast Milk Donor
- Alyssa Adamson
- Jun 6, 2018
- 6 min read
I'm super excited to share with you all about a service project that my son and I recently participated in together. Lately, there's been a lot of interest in my journey to becoming a breast milk donor. I tried to cover everything, but there are a lot of details, so if there are any unanswered questions make sure to ask me in the comment section, on Facebook, or on Instagram. Here we go!
Why is there a need for donated milk?
You may be wondering why donating milk is even a thing. Human milk contains necessary active growth hormones, developmental enzymes, and immunological factors. It can be donated for use by babies, older children, and adults. Prematurity, malabsorption, formula intolerance, immunological deficiencies, congenital anomalies, postoperative nutrition, and situations in which a biological mother’s milk is unavailable are just a handful of the uses for donor milk. (Information cited from the OhioHealth Mother’s Milk Bank of Ohio.)
Why is donating breast milk important to me?
In 2011 a group of my sorority sisters and I traveled to the IU Komen Tissue Bank in Indianapolis to donate healthy breast tissue for breast cancer research. There’s no shortage of cancerous tissue samples, but healthy tissue samples are harder to come by. When I first heard about that opportunity I just knew it was something I had to do. I had given different types of donations before - monetary, time, belongings I no longer needed... but to actually give a physical piece of yourself to a worthy cause was truly a moving experience and one that I always remember fondly each time I see the little scar on the outer side of “lefty.”
Seven years later, and now a first time mom, I was again compelled to donate a piece of myself. I felt very blessed to be able to breastfeed my son the way I wanted to and I never dreamed that I would actually produce more milk than he needs. My mom is a lactation consultant and I had heard her mention milk donation in the past. Knowing all the great uses for breast milk and that there are milk banks out there struggling to keep their shelves full, it would have felt very selfish not to share the pumping bags I had piling up in the freezer with babies in need.
How did I make the leap to start the donation process?
My decision to donate was solidified the night before Nate’s first day of daycare. I was holding off on donating because I wanted to make sure pumping would go smoothly after I went back to work and I wanted to have as much backup milk on hand as I could - just in case. The night before we started daycare was hard. As if it wasn’t difficult enough with figuring out how to prep his bottles for the next day (he hadn't really had many bottles before daycare), making sure the bottles were labeled correctly, making sure he had enough milk to get through the day, packing up the now 4-7 bags that we take with us every morning, and just generally feeling #momguilt over me going to work/him going to daycare, etc., I started thawing out all the milk I’d so diligently pumped over the past 3 months.. and it smelled - and tasted - like spoiled baby spit up.. BAD.
So there I am, sobbing into my kitchen sink at 10pm on a Sunday night dumping my precious milk - Nate’s precious milk - down the drain in a desperate effort to try to find enough “normal” milk to make up his bottles for the next day. I just felt sick about it. Using your body to sustain another human life is no joke. A lot of blood, sweat, tears, and countless hours of pumping and sanitizing are behind every saved drop. After that, I swore no more would go to waste. I emailed the milk bank the next day.
[Side note: I’m beyond lucky, for many reasons, to have a lactation consultant on speed dial. The reason my milk had the bad smell/taste to it was because it had high levels of lipase in it. Lipase is an enzyme that helps breakdown fats. Everyone’s milk has it - some women just have higher levels than others. The milk is still good to use, it just doesn’t taste or smell appetizing (like, at all). Freezing does not slow down the breakdown process and once it starts it can’t be reversed. To prevent this, now I scald my milk when I get home each night before I freeze it. I heat it until I see little bubbles form around the edge of the pan. We haven’t had a problem since! Also great news, milk with high lipase can still be donated! They either use it for tube feeding or it can be mixed with other milk to mask the taste/smell.]
What is the donation process?
I emailed the OhioHealth Mother’s Milk Bank of Ohio and expressed my interest in becoming a donor. They emailed me back a 17 page donor packet to fill out to make sure that I was an eligible donor. It started with general information questions like names and contact information. Then it moved into health and medical history questions about Nate and me and also questions about my lifestyle. Next, there was a consent form for me to sign. Also, both my doctor and Nate’s pediatrician had to sign off on us moving forward with donation. The milk bank needed to confirm that I was healthy and that Nate was healthy and growing on target, since the first priority is to make sure he is well fed.
The next section in the packet was a list of medications and their corresponding deferral period. For some medicines, you need to wait a certain amount of time for them to leave your system before pumping milk to donate. There were a few medicines listed that donors can’t take at all during the donation process. Also, you must wait 12 hours after consuming alcohol to pump donor milk. Since the milk is going to babies with compromised immunity, these restrictions are more stringent than if you were going to feed or pump for your own, healthy baby. The last section of the packet contained information on what would disqualify a woman from donating, dietary instructions and restrictions, instructions to ensure sanitary pumping, and tips for pumping milk specifically for premature and sick babies.
After I returned my completed donor packet, the next step in the process was a phone screen. A nurse from the milk bank called me and we reviewed my answers to the donor packet. After our conversation, she decided we could move forward in the process. The milk bank mailed me an order for blood work, a prepaid shipping label, and a cooler/box to send my milk to them in.
Before I could ship anything, they had me go for a blood work test. The test was looking for the presence of a few different illnesses, specifically HIV since it can be transmitted through bodily fluids. If you are continuing to donate, you will need to repeat the blood test every 6 months. Once my test results came back negative, I was able to send in my first donation box!
How do you ship the milk?
Since it is perishable, the milk bank provided me with very detailed instructions on how to ship the milk. On January 30th, I packed up our first box of 76.75 ounces of milk! Along with the milk, I sent a return form where I could ask for additional storage bags and labels printed with my donor number and let them know that I was planning to donate more milk so that they could send me another box. Our second donation of 121 ounces went out on May 15th, which brings us to 197.75 total ounces donated! The milk bank covers the cost of donation almost entirely (blood work, prepaid shipping labels, shipping cooler/box, storage bags, etc.), so they ask for a minimum donation of 150 ounces to offset their costs. The exception to this is if you are donating in memory of your baby, then there is no minimum requirement. Once the boxes were packed up and all the outer sides were marked with the included “perishable” stickers, I simply dropped it off at my local FedEx store, where it was then overnighted to the milk bank.
I feel privileged that Nate and I could participate in this service project together and help give preemie and NICU babies the best possible start to their lives. When he’s older and can understand, I’ll tell him all about how we helped babies in need together! <3
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