Donor breast milk for a baby. Donor breast milk for a baby Donor breast milk

Ingoda, there are situations when a mother cannot, due to some circumstances, feed her baby breast milk. Then another mother can come to the rescue and become a donor to the baby without leaving him hungry.

What is donor breast milk

There are so-called “peer-to-peer networks” in the world, which are created specifically so that both donors-breadwinners and those who need them can help each other. These organizations work absolutely free of charge, only on mutual assistance, but there are exceptions that are condemned by many mothers from all over the world. After all, feeding a defenseless baby is really worth the money if you have milk to help.

Cases in which the need for donor milk arises

• Due to circumstances, the mother does not have enough breast milk, and they want to supplement the baby with formula only after a certain period. It often happens that a mother either does not have enough milk, or after childbirth she lost it due to nervous stress and postpartum shock. This is a purely psycho-emotional state and is not subject to discussion, since it is not the woman’s fault that her body reacted this way. Then the parents turn to donor milk mothers and ask them to feed them until the biological mother’s condition returns to normal. This can last approximately a month or two (often it even lasts a week or two), depending on who you are.
• After giving birth, the mother has no milk at all, and he was breastfed, but upon discharge, the parents want only breastfeeding.
• The child's mother takes heavy antibiotics, which cannot be “fed” to the child with milk, even if she has it. Also if the mother is in serious condition after childbirth (coma, large blood loss, too low hemoglobin). Then the father or relatives resort to the services of the milk mother.
• If the mother of the child, who is breastfeeding, has an urgent need to leave or she is ill and needs to go to the hospital.
• If the adoptive parents took the baby straight from the baby's home and do not want to bottle feed.

Who can become a breast donor mother for a child?

• Mothers who, while feeding their children, also express milk, as the excess makes itself felt.
• Mothers who, after expressing, decided to freeze the milk “in reserve”, but it only stayed there for no more! three days was not useful.
• Mothers who gave birth to a low-birth-weight baby, having a huge supply of milk that he does not have time to eat (it leaks or can burn out) and are happy to take someone else's baby to feed (although there are no other people's children).

Safety when choosing a milk mother and her little feeder

• First, be sure to confirm that you agree for your child to be fed by a donor mother. it’s different for honey. staff and the donor may have problems.
• Be sure to find out about the health status of the donor-nurse.
• It is important for the nurse to know whether the child is infected, since while sucking the breast (even if he is toothless), his saliva penetrates directly into the woman’s body through the open nipple. And if the baby has some kind of infection because of his mother and you were not informed about this or provided with a certificate, this is a directly jurisdictional matter.
• The nursing mother must also make sure that the mother has good reasons for not feeding the baby herself. If there are no such people and the mother simply does not want to feed her child, having milk in abundance, it is better for the nurse to help someone who really needs it.

“Milk” brothers and sisters (strangers by blood, but fed by the same mother’s milk) were a fairly common phenomenon in ancient Rus'. At the beginning of the last century, young mothers of the noble class did not breastfeed their babies. “It’s not a noble thing to breastfeed a child.” The nurses did this for them. Over time, the views of society and young mothers have changed, and women no longer voluntarily give up breastfeeding. In the 60-70s, the need to resort to the services of a wet nurse was dictated by completely different reasons. At that time, there was no such abundance of artificial breast milk substitutes in our country. When the mother did not have milk, the baby was given either diluted cow's or goat's milk, or powdered cow's milk formula. And if the baby was intolerant to this mixture, the mother had to look for a nurse.

In addition, “milk” kinship is common in the animal world. You can often observe a situation where a dog feeds a kitten, a wolf feeds a fox, a pig feeds a puppy, etc. Of course, you shouldn't compare yourself to animals. But nature itself came up with this. And as you know, there is nothing more natural and reasonable than the prompts of Mother Nature.

Breast milk is the ideal food for a newborn. And so far no formula has been invented that completely replicates the composition of breast milk. But what if mom doesn’t have it or has it, but very little? Is it worth transferring the baby to or, perhaps, taking advantage of the experience of our ancestors and finding a wet nurse for the baby?

Where to look for donor milk?

There are several options for finding donor milk. The first and most reliable is to contact a “breast milk bank”. “Breast milk banks” have been operating in all countries of the world for many years.

If there is no breast milk bank in your city, you can find a wet nurse through an acquaintance. The easiest way is to find a wet nurse for your child in the maternity hospital. Especially if you gave birth in a regional maternity ward: there is a high probability that your roommates live not far from you. If you couldn’t find a suitable wet nurse in the maternity hospital, ask friends and acquaintances who recently had children. Maybe you find a mom who has too much milk and has to pump to avoid stagnation.

But newspaper and Internet advertisements offering the services of a wet nurse should be treated with extreme caution. No, we do not undertake to say that all the women who advertise these ads are sick with hepatitis, alcoholics or drug addicts. Among them there are also decent young mothers who, due to financial difficulties, are forced to sell their milk in order to somehow feed themselves and their children. In this case, it will be quite difficult for you to choose from a huge number of offers exactly what you need, cleverly weeding out dubious offers. In addition, if a woman is forced to sell breast milk, she is most likely unable to provide herself with adequate nutrition. Remember, all substances entering the mother’s body pass into breast milk - both beneficial and harmful. Therefore, the choice of a nurse should be approached with all responsibility. You must be absolutely sure that the nurse leads a healthy lifestyle, eats properly and does not violate basic hygiene rules when pumping. But even if you are confident in the integrity of the nurse, do not neglect sterilization of donor milk.

Formula or donor milk?

Of course, most modern mothers prefer to use ready-made breast milk substitutes. Firstly, it is safer, because the manufacturer is responsible for the quality of its products. And secondly, it’s easier: you don’t have to look for a wet nurse and sterilize donor milk. But there are a number of cases when experts consider donor milk as a worthy alternative to artificial formula. Here are some of the most common examples:

In weak, premature babies, the gastrointestinal tract is not yet adapted to digest artificial formulas. And for this reason, malfunctions and disturbances in the functioning of the digestive system often occur. In addition, a mother who gives birth to a baby prematurely often has problems with lactation. And the baby does not yet have the strength to help his mother “suck” the breast. It turns out to be a kind of vicious circle. The baby needs breast milk - but it cannot help the mother establish lactation. In this case, doctors in the maternity hospital often supplement the children with donor milk from other women in labor. In addition, there is a high probability that after some time the mother will produce milk and she will be able to breastfeed the baby herself.

Donor milk is more preferable in cases where the mother is forced to abruptly stop feeding. For example, if she is diagnosed with a serious illness that requires the use of strong antibiotics or hospital treatment (for example, hepatitis B), it is better not to risk it and transfer the baby to artificial or donor feeding. In this case, even with sterilization and compliance with all safety measures, there is a high probability of infection of the child or of strong antibiotics getting into breast milk.

When pregnant again, it is better for the mother to voluntarily give up breastfeeding. During pregnancy, a woman's hormonal levels change and, consequently, breast milk changes taste. By the way, it is usually the child who notices the “interesting position” of the mother first and refuses to breastfeed. But if the baby continues to eat as if nothing had happened, it would be better to interrupt the process, regardless of his age. After all, now you first need to think about the unborn baby. He needs much more vitamins and minerals from the mother's body. It is almost impossible to carry and give birth to a healthy child and continue breastfeeding at the same time. If up to this point the baby was breastfed, then a sudden transition to artificial formula may be difficult for his body. And donor milk will make the transition from breast to formula smoother and safer for the baby.

It is impossible to give a definite answer whether artificial formula or donor milk is better. Each case must be considered individually. Therefore, before making a final decision about using donor milk, think carefully, consult with your pediatrician and weigh the pros and cons. And remember, donor milk is not natural feeding. And just one of the possible options for artificial feeding. Although donor milk has all the advantages of breast milk, it is still not a full-fledged replacement for the mother.

Donor milk has a long shelf life compared to prepared dry formula. It can be stored for about 8 hours at room temperature, five days in the refrigerator and up to three months in the freezer. At the same time, its quality is maintained.

Unlike artificial substitutes, breast milk, in addition to all the vitamins and nutrients a newborn needs, contains antibodies that protect the baby from various diseases and enzymes.

Donor milk is much cheaper than most artificial formulas. And sometimes the nurse is ready to provide it for free. Of course, if you decided to have a child, then most likely you thought about how to feed him. But if you are in a difficult financial situation and cannot use the services of a “dairy kitchen” (if you and the child are citizens of another state), this fact may be decisive.

Disadvantages of donor feeding

Necessary sterilization somewhat reduces the nutritional value of donor milk.

You cannot constantly control the nurse's nutrition. There is a high probability that her child can tolerate a number of foods from her mother’s diet, but your baby may have allergies.

There is a risk of contracting viral hepatitis or HIV infection through breast milk.

The baby drinks donor milk from a bottle, and not from the mother’s breast, as with natural feeding. Therefore, even in the absence of milk (if the mother is healthy), give the baby an empty breast. In this way, you will partially satisfy the baby’s need for close communication with his mother.

If you are a wet nurse

If you do not have problems with a lack of milk and theoretically you are able to feed not one, but several heroes at once, there is no need to throw away the expressed milk. Why not give your child a baby brother or sister? By the way, according to psychologists, children fed with the same milk have a lot in common with each other, unlike babies fed on the same artificial formulas. Through breast milk, the fluids of the nurse are transmitted to the baby: joy, sadness or anxiety.

Of course, taking milk to a collection point is a rather tedious task, especially when you have a small child in your arms, and the point is located on the other side of the city. But perhaps someone you know suffers from a lack or complete absence of breast milk. You have a chance to do a good deed for people, so why not take advantage of it? In addition, this is not at all difficult for you if you still have to express excess milk.

The most important thing is to follow basic hygiene rules. Before each pumping (after feeding your baby), you should wash your hands and breasts with baby soap. Use only clean, pre-sterilized bottles (the container for pumping is usually prepared by another mother). If you use a breast pump to express, you should also keep it clean and wash the attachments after each pumping. Store expressed milk in the refrigerator in a tightly closed bottle to prevent the milk from absorbing odors from other foods. But there is no need to sterilize milk. The mother of the second baby will do this anyway and why do you need the extra headache.

Who might benefit from donor breast milk?

Donor breast milk is given to a newborn, especially one born prematurely, only on doctor's orders in cases where breast milk is not available.

Reasons for prescribing donor milk:

• Prematurity
• Inborn errors of metabolism
• Nutrition after intestinal surgery
• Allergies, intolerance to infant formula
• Chronic renal failure
• Cardiopathy
• Immune deficiencies
• Multiple births

Why is donor breast milk so important for a premature baby?

• 1 in 10 babies are born premature. Breast milk is especially important for these newborns because it promotes better absorption of nutrition, including in extremely immature infants, and helps significantly reduce the risk of developing serious diseases that are common in premature infants, such as necrotizing enterocolitis, sepsis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, retinopathy, and most the main thing is to ensure the further optimal neuropsychic development of these children.
• Less than half of mothers of premature newborns are able to give them their breast milk in the first time after birth. Some mothers of premature or weak babies also have medical restrictions that are incompatible with breastfeeding. When fed with donor breast milk, these babies receive all the benefits of breast milk that are essential for growth and development.

Safety of donor milk
The closest attention is paid to the safety of breast milk in the bank of donor breast milk of the Scientific Center for Children's Health: donor mothers are carefully selected, undergo examination, and then the resulting donor milk is pasteurized using technology that meets accepted international standards (at a temperature of 62.5? C in within 30 minutes).

Numerous scientific studies have proven that with this pasteurization method, known pathogenic viruses and bacteria, including cytomegalovirus, mycobacterium tuberculosis, and HIV, are completely inactivated, so donor breast milk is safe for children.

In 2014 in Scientific Center for Children's Health The first breast milk bank in Russia was opened on the basis of the department for premature babies. The initiative is being implemented under the auspices of the Union of Pediatricians of Russia and with the support of the Philips Avent brand, an expert in the production of products for breastfeeding.

Donor breast milk bank is a special structure created to collect, test, process, store and distribute valuable donor breast milk to those newborns who need it for special medical reasons.

The NCCH donor milk bank is non-public, that is, it applies only to patients of the Center. Donors are nursing mothers who are in the clinical departments of the Center along with their babies.

The traditions of breast milk donation go back to the distant past - a child in the first weeks of life could not survive if he received not human milk as food, but animal milk or decoctions of herbs and grains.

Mother's milk is a unique product. It contains all the nutrients a newborn needs in an easily digestible form and protects against infections, including necrotizing enterocolitis, because the baby receives antibodies and other biologically active substances with milk. Modern breast milk substitutes, despite the efforts of manufacturers, cannot fully reproduce living biological fluid.

So far, 3 official donor milk banks have been opened in Russia - in Moscow (Scientific Center for Children's Health), Ufa (Republican Children's Clinical Hospital) and Chelyabinsk (Regional Perinatal Center). These are internal banks - milk is donated and received by the mothers of children undergoing treatment in these hospitals.

You can also find a donor on breast milk exchange websites (links below).

The exchange of milk from mother to mother is called informal. This should be an exchange, and not a sale/purchase - for safety.

Why do parents choose to feed with donor milk?
Because breast milk is the natural food for a human baby.

Who can be a donor?
Any healthy woman with no contraindications.

What are the contraindications for donation?
— Some diseases (HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, any acute infections, mental disorders).
— Treatment with drugs incompatible with hepatitis B (for example, cytostatics).
— Damage to the skin of the breast and nipples.
— Smoking and other bad habits.

How to check if your potential donor has any contraindications?
— Get to know each other in person, discuss frankly what worries the host family.
- Ask for data from tests taken during pregnancy, or ask to take tests immediately before donation - and don’t be shy about asking questions, sincerely explaining why you are asking them.

Who is suitable for donor milk?
All children in need of supplementary feeding. But first of all - to premature and weakened babies.

How does the exchange between families work?
Parents get to know each other, discuss issues that concern them (the mother’s health, milk storage, etc.), and agree on logistics (when and how to transfer milk).

How is donor milk prepared for feeding?
If the milk is frozen, it must be thawed in advance.
To ensure safety, donor milk is pasteurized (disinfected) in a water bath.

What happened to donation in our country before?
In the USSR, breast milk donation was common practice. Dairy kitchens collected, pasteurized and distributed donor breast milk. With the emergence of the HIV epidemic, dairy kitchens were repurposed to provide breast milk substitutes.

Why are they afraid of milk donation?
People are afraid of the selfish interests of donors (which is why many are against the sale of breast milk).

In fact, you can simply donate milk and it will be safer, because most often they give the milk that was prepared for their own child.

Many people are unaware of the safety rules when sharing breast milk.

Where to find breast milk donors?
For example, on the website of the Volunteer Movement “Milk Mom” is an association of people who support the free exchange of donor breast milk.

Hello, How it's done!

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the only bank of donor milk in Moscow, and what is there, in all of Russia, and meet its creators. I will now tell you how it was created, how and where it functions and who can use the deposits of this bank.

From time immemorial to the present day

The history of milk donation dates back to ancient times. Then, if a woman did not have the opportunity to feed the child on her own, she resorted to the help of a wet nurse, who could be a relative or just an acquaintance. It is known that a similar practice existed in Ancient Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, and after the 11th century, the aristocratic and royal families of Europe used the services of wet nurses.

The transition from private services to milk collection and processing points began at the beginning of the twentieth century. The first such institution was a milk bank, which opened in Vienna in 1909 at St. Anne's Hospital.

In Russia in the 1960-70s, “donor points” operated at children's clinics to collect excess breast milk from nursing mothers and distribute it to needy infants under one month of age. Subsequently, these institutions ceased to exist due to difficulties in monitoring the quality of milk and the development of the infant formula industry.

Opening a bank

In November 2014, a donor breast milk bank opened in Russia. The pilot project was created to help newborns, children undergoing treatment and rehabilitation in the department for premature and neonatal surgical units of the Scientific Center for Children's Health on Vavilova Street in Moscow.

Irina Anatolyevna Belyaeva (left), Doctor of Medical Sciences, Head of the Department for Premature Babies, Research Institute of Pediatrics, Scientific Center for Children's Health, and Olga Leonidovna Lukoyanova (right), Candidate of Medical Sciences, began collecting scientific and practical data on the effectiveness and safety of the work of such a structure. Senior Researcher, Department of Nutrition for Healthy and Sick Children, Federal State Budgetary Institution "Scientific Center for Children's Health", doctor of the highest category. I took the photographs from them themselves. I was so carried away by the conversation, while in my thoughts I was rushing to see Varyusha, that I didn’t even think about asking to take a photo with me.

In the department

Children are in the wards with their mothers. How else? The mother takes care of the baby and learns to use the feeding device. Premature babies often lack a sucking reflex and are fed through a tube that goes into the stomach through the nose.

It happens that children lie alone while their mother is undergoing treatment. But the restoration of a weak body in premature babies goes much faster when the mother is nearby. And especially if the mother has the opportunity to feed her breast milk.

But it happens that it is simply impossible to establish breastfeeding. The reasons are different, mainly early childbirth, intensive care, treatment or stress. Then donor breast milk can come to the rescue.

Indications for donor breast milk

Donor milk is prescribed only by a doctor as food and medicine at the same time. Not everything is for children, there are exceptions. The mother has the right to refuse donor milk and feed the baby with premature formula, but in this department refusals are very rare. The most valuable things at stake are life and health.

Which patients are indicated for donor milk in cases where maternal milk is not available? Firstly, premature babies. I saw these babies in incubators. There is a very tiny one, weighing a kilogram and the size of an iPad Mini, or even the size of a palm. He is fed donor milk while his mother is undergoing treatment herself.

Milk is also indicated for children with metabolic disorders, after intestinal surgery, renal failure, cardiopathy, immune deficiency and allergies to milk formula.

When formula-fed, out of thousands of children born with very low body weight, 21 children die as a result of the development of necrotizing enterocolitis. If such children are fed breast milk, the mortality rate from this serious disease is 3-6 per thousand newborns.

How the breast milk bank is tripled

When I began to negotiate the opportunity to get into the breast milk bank, I imagined myself entering a separate building, a large separate building. In fact, the milk bank in this department has an area of ​​about twenty meters, divided into three compartments.

Mothers bring milk into the first compartment. They can immediately wash their breast pump or take a clean container for collection.

Milk is expressed in such jars. They are reusable and can be sterilized.

A bank employee accepts milk for bacteriological testing.

Then it is sent for pasteurization. The pasteurization technology is very simple: for half an hour the milk is heated in a water bath at a temperature of 62.5 degrees. This allows you to protect it, while 100% of the protein, fat, carbohydrates, oligosaccharides, linoleic and a number of other acids, vitamins A, D, E, B12 are preserved. The milk contains 75% folic acid, 65% vitamin C, up to 70% immunoglobulin A, and 91% of total antioxidant activity is retained.

Milk is stored frozen, but it must cool down before going into the freezer.

It is stored in bags in the freezer. They are disposable, sterile and simply compact. When frozen, breast milk can be stored for three to six months.

Security issue

As I wrote above, the breast milk bank project is experimental. For now, you can’t just come from the street to donate or receive milk. There is not the slightest doubt about the effectiveness of treating and caring for small patients with the help of milk, and the issue of safety is given the closest attention.

Contraindications for donation are not only a history of infectious diseases, but also, for example, tattoos, acupuncture or dental surgery in the last six months.

Mass donation

I learned one interesting fact about mass donation in Brazil, where it is very well developed. Initially, they gave money for donating milk. In this way, donation was encouraged. But after some time, the reward system was abolished. The fact is that low-income mothers donated all their milk, depriving their own children of the most valuable product.

It’s too early to think about when milk donation in Russia will become widespread, says Olga Leonidovna. The bank is already ready to expand and accept those wishing to donate milk. Mothers who do not have the opportunity to feed themselves are not yet ready to accept this same donor milk. And those who feed themselves and have excess breast milk are advised to create their own bank at home. This requires a breast pump, storage tanks and a freezer. Decanted, cooled, then froze. Within six months after the end of breastfeeding, there will still be an opportunity to make, for example, milk porridge.