Let’s say that you simply’re having a child play date with a bunch of fellow mothers when your baby abruptly needs to nurse… like, now. For no matter motive, your letdown is taking a complete lot longer than it ought to, and your child is fussing and howling because of this. One of many mothers gives to breastfeed your child for you, however that make you surprise (or fear, or each): What occurs in case your child drinks one other lady’s breast milk?
Ladies breastfeeding youngsters aside from their very own is nothing new. Moist nursing dates again to as early as 2000 BC, a research from the Nationwide Institutes of Well being reported. And when you can nonetheless rent a moist nurse (it could actually value you upwards of $1,000 per week, as At the moment reported), many ladies who want to glean the advantages of breast milk may flip to different nursing mamas to assist out. “There are a number of sources of donor milk together with mates, casual nursing teams, web milk banks and at last donor milk banks,” Juliana Parker, RN, a registered nurse and authorized lactation educator, tells Romper.
Now, getting your breast milk from an authorized milk financial institution shouldn’t be too problematic. “Milk that has been obtained by a milk financial institution is secure as a result of the moms are screened and examined and the milk is pasteurized and examined,” Andrea Tran RN, BSN, MA, IBCLC, a registered nurse and authorized lactation marketing consultant, tells Romper. “They’ll take a look at the donor’s blood for communicable ailments and the milk for micro organism and viruses,” says Parker. “Additionally they pasteurize the milk.” Whereas pasteurization will make the breast milk safer, it could actually additionally lower a few of its dietary worth, a second research within the Nationwide Institutes of Well being discovered.
However getting your child’s milk from one other gal pal could possibly be equally problematic, too. “Getting milk straight from one other mother is dangerous,” says Tran. “Whereas mothers who supply their milk to a different mama have good intentions, it’s potential to go ailments by breast milk.” In spite of everything, despite the fact that it might need extra vitamins, the breast milk received’t be pasteurized, so you can be placing your child in danger for contracting micro organism, ailments, or viruses. “CMV (cytomegalovirus), HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), papillomarvirus, gram-negative and coliform micro organism, stapylococus and E. coli can all be transmitted by breast milk,” says Parker.
Assuming that you simply’re going to bottlefeed your child the breast milk (versus letting your baby nurse straight out of your buddy), there are different points to deal with. For starters, you’ll have to know the donor mother’s weight-reduction plan. “If she has eaten one thing that your child is illiberal to, like dairy, that could possibly be a problem,” says Tran. And also you must also learn the way the breast milk has been saved for security functions. “Correct storage can be a severe consideration,” says Parker. “Did the milk donor place the milk within the freezer instantly, or did it sit in a fridge for a time period? As a result of breast milk that has been frozen for greater than three months loses a substantial quantity of vitamins.” Plus, breast milk adjustments with the age of the newborn, so in case your buddy’s child is older, the milk may not have as a lot mojo as it might for, say, a new child.
In case you’re contemplating utilizing donated breast milk, it’s a good suggestion to discover all choices. In the end, it’s as much as you to determine the place you get the donor milk from to make sure that breast nonetheless stays the perfect (and most secure) choice to your little one.
Research cited:
Stevens, E., Patrick, T., Picker, R. 2009. “Historical past of Toddler Feeding”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684040/
Peila, C., Moro, G., Bertino, E., Cavallarin, L., Giribaldi, M., Giuliani, F., Cresi, F., Coscia, A. 2016. “The Impact of Holder Pasteurization on Vitamins and Biologically-Lively Elements in Donor Human Milk: A Evaluate”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997390/
Specialists:
Juliana Parker, RN, a registered nurse and authorized lactation educator
Andrea Tran RN, BSN, MA, IBCLC, a registered nurse and authorized lactation marketing consultant
