Mother’s milk in demand
The kindness of strangers in the form of a freezer full of frozen breast milk will soon be available for Waikato mums unable to afford formula.
Poverty Action Waikato (PAW) is calling for healthy, breast-feeding mums to donate excess milk to its Wet Fridge initiative.
‘‘It’s an idea I had after hearing some stories that really upset me,’’ volunteer PAW milk bank organiser Kyro Selket said. ‘‘Some of the women were watering down formula – the cheapest formula is something like $17.’’
But donated breast milk poses health risks. And lack of funding means blood tests and thorough screenings aren’t possible.
‘‘We have got forms for donors to fill out, about their health. We can’t afford to do blood tests, but all the women that I am speaking to that are donors would never ever give milk they felt would endanger infants.
‘‘We know breast is best, the next step up is somebody else’s breast milk.’’
Before the 1980s and fears over HIV – milk banks were common in maternity units. Now, the Canterbury DHB is the only formal Human Donor Milk Bank.
Waikato DHB clinical midwife specialist Margaret Fletcher said milk sharing often happens informally between friends and family.
‘‘The risk, for a full-term healthy baby, are low. But there are things that can be transferred through milk. You’d want health screening and blood tests.’’
Freezing the milk kills some bacteria, but it doesn’t kill everything, Fletcher said.
‘‘Make sure the women donating don’t have any infections and aren’t taking medication. Mums might want to know does she smoke or drink? Because that can affect the breast milk.
‘‘If it’s done right I think it is a fabulous idea. There are a lot of women who have an abundant supply [of breast milk].’’
Selket hopes the freezer will be running by Christmas to help ease the financial burden for struggling families.
‘‘I did this informal research. I stood at Pak’n Save on Clarence Street outside the formula aisle.
‘‘Every woman I spoke to said, if we had had [the milk bank] up and running they would have [had] a couple of times of the year that they had to use it.’’
Feedback from the community and health sector will be sought at a meeting at the Fairfield Community House on November 21.
‘‘We want to hear from them about their fears. We don’t want to put infants in danger.’’