HOW TO DONATE YOUR BREASTMILK
Human milk bank nationally have strict rules that govern who may donate and when:
Mothers who would like to donate are screened and counselled for HIV, drug and alcohol use. The breastmilk is pasteurised as a safety measure.
Next, mothers must wait until breastfeeding with their own babies is well established. This is usually not before the baby is six weeks old.
Depending on the organisation with whom they work countrywide, mothers are given sterile containers in which to store their breastmilk. They express milk, bag it, label it with their name or code number, date it, and then store it in the freezer until they are able to make a trip to a drop-off point. Usually these are Well Baby clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, and so on.
Donors donate anonymously. This means they do not know which particular baby their milk is being used for, and the recipient family does not know the donor.
Donated milk is used for premature and vulnerable babies who for some reason cannot receive breastmilk from their own mothers. Rules for who is selected to receive breastmilk may vary between hospitals.
Unlike in places such as the US, with bigger donating bases and less need, the breastmilk in South Africa is not “age-matched”. Only very young, usually premature or HIV+, babies receive donor breastmilk via the milk banks in South Africa, which means that a premature baby can be drinking milk from a mother whose own baby is six months old or older. While breastmilk does change its composition as a baby ages to match its changing nutritional needs, receiving any breastmilk – even for the “wrong” age – is still better than none for premmies.
Babies who drink breastmilk in ICU are seven times less likely to contract necrotising enterocolitis, a life-threatening condition which is a leading cause of prem babies’ deaths.
Always keep a glass of water and a book close to where you breastfeed your baby, especially in those early days. Nursing is thirsty work, and you need to stay hydrated. And while staring into your baby’s eyes is very special, sometimes a feed can take an hour or more, and so it helps to have something around to keep you occupied. When it comes to washing tiny baby socks, I throw them all in a pillowcase, tie a knot in it and then chuck that into the washing machine – none get lost along the way and it’s easier to find pairs when they’re all in one place.