“Where it is not possible for the biological mother to breast feed, the first alternative, if available, should be the use of human milk from other sources. Human milk banks should be made available in appropriate situations.”Last week I attended a Human Milk Banking Association of North America Conference in Boston. I've been discussing milk banking with colleagues and mentors for a while now, but it wasn't until this conference that I really got on the band wagon. My husband picked me up last Tuesday at BWI and when I got into the car I sheepishly said to him "I think I'm going to start a milk bank." He knew this had been in the air in the Northern Virginia area for awhile now. Bless his heart, he just gave me his 'Why am I not surprised?' smile and joined me on board Project Milk Bank. I'm full of ideas that bring us no revenue, I should clarify with "cost us money", but Marcus just continues to back me up. I guess I was always meant to be the money giver and he the money maker in this relationship.
-WHO and UNICEF, 1980
There's a key person to this story, her name is Margaret. She's the fuel behind launching this rocket titled Project Milk Bank. Have you ever worked for NASA? Me neither, but I do know that an immense about of time, effort, and man power is behind each launch. And this launch, for better or for worse, will be no different.
I've decided to share this journey via Boob for Thought. Donor human milk does come from boobs after all. I hope to share the struggles and successes with any readers interested, as well as network with anyone who is interested in joining Project Milk Bank! So here, my friends, is where this story begins...
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk Policy Statement http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496
- Human Milk Banking Association of North America, Position Paper on Donor Milk Banking http://www.hmbana.org/downloads/position-paper-donor-milk.pdf
2 comments:
Nice! You are so ambitious, I love it. If it's anything like last time for me, I should be able to contribute to your bank quite a bit come the end of October... ;) Count me in!
That would be amazing, Betsy!!! We probably will not have a physical milk bank in the area for a a year or two...turns out these things are more complicated than one would imagine. However, ideally we will start collecting donor milk to send to another milk bank and have them process the milk to give to hospitals in the area. This way we get things started before we open our own facilities - establish our supply and demand. We should be to that point by this Fall, just in time for baby Rice :-) Thanks for always being so supportive!
Post a Comment