There are a lot of lessons you might take from the string of natural disasters—the earthquakes and tsunamis, floods and droughts—that have been cropping up around the globe in recent years: about the effects of climate change, say, or the wisdom of nuclear power.
There’s another lesson, too, one that’s perhaps less obvious but still vital: about the life-saving importance of breastfeeding. When food supply chains are disrupted, or food and water sources contaminated, a nursing mother can still provide her baby with the nutrients he needs to survive and thrive.
You don’t have to go to Japan or Haiti or Niger to find babies in urgent need of breast milk. Last month, the Human Milk Banking Association of North America issued a call for milk donations, noting that the nation’s supply is not enough to meet the demand.
HMBANA’s 11 member banks, in the U.S. and Canada, collect and process donated milk, then distribute it to premature or ill babies whose mothers cannot nurse them (for instance, in the case of a very premature birth, when the mother’s body is not yet ready to produce milk). Demand for the milk has risen at a remarkable clip in recent years—according to HMBANA, the amount of milk distributed by its members increased by 45 percent from 2000 to 2005—thanks in part to the growing number of hospitals that have made it a priority to get donated milk to infants who need it.
But supply hasn’t kept up with demand, says HMBANA, which recently announced that donated milk has reached “critically low levels,” and asked that all nursing moms consider contributing milk to a bank.
“There is a growing need for donor milk as an increasing number of hospitals begin to use human milk as standard of care for these fragile babies,” says Naomi Bar-Yam, executive director of the Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England, based in Newton. “This is why we are reaching out to new mothers to consider becoming a milk donor.”
Potential donors are screened for communicable diseases and other health risks; in addition, donors cannot smoke or take legal or illegal drugs or drink alcohol during a defined period. Donors pump and freeze their milk, then send it to a milk bank, where it’s pasteurized and tested for the presence of bacteria. The milk is then sent on to hospitals or, in some cases, individual families’ homes. A doctor’s prescription is required to get the milk.
While donors can send their milk to any bank in the country, local moms will soon have an option close to home: the Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England, which has been distributing milk from other banks for several years, is putting the finishing touches on its own milk-processing lab, which will be in operation in a few weeks, according to Bar-Yam.
To find out more about donating milk, contact the New England bank at (781) 535-7594, or go to www.milkbankne.org. In addition, at the Northampton-based company Motherwear’s blog on breastfeeding, writer Tanya Lieberman has covered the issues extensively, including writing about her own experiences as a milk donor. (Go to http://breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com/breastmilk_donation.)
