"Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (September). For this month, we will tackle milk sharing and how it can nurture the community, and how this spirit of giving can be sustained. Participants will share their thoughts, experiences, hopes and suggestions on the topic.
Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of carnival entries."
During my first few weeks with Ben, I was very concerned with my milk supply. Even if I fed Ben directly most of the time, I'd still express milk to build up my supply and so that I have some to store in case of emergencies. Every drop was precious! I never thought that I'd eventually come to a point that I was satisfied with my supply but by Ben's third month, I had a good milk stash in our freezer. That was the first time I thought about donating my milk. I've donated to the nearby hospital and to mommy friends who were still building up their supply or were under short-term medication. I even posted at the Human Milk for Human Babies Manila page in Facebook and was able to help out a stranger who needed breast-milk for her daughter.
The most memorable experience I had with donating milk was being featured in ABS-CBN's show "Ako ang Simula". They needed to interview a mom who donated milk for the victims of Ondoy. I was nervous but decided to go ahead for the love of the advocacy. The funny thing is that they wanted footage of me expressing milk on the spot and I just fed Ben. It was a good thing Medela Mom's Maricel was there for support and encouragement! Anyway, I was shy so I didn't spread the word when the show was aired but some family and friends happened to catch it and told me how they appreciated what I did. It was a good feeling to be able to help spread the word how important breast-milk donations are especially during natural disasters. It is really wonderful how many moms would respond to calls for breast-milk donations. Their contribution to the health of the young ones cannot be compared to any other type of contribution, be it monetary or in kind.
Donating and receiving breast-milk might still be a tricky issue for some parents, but if done responsibly, milk sharing is a very beautiful thing. It is one of the best proofs that breast milk is the best thing you can offer a baby, especially premature ones. I hope more moms will be open to it.
Brenda has notes on breast milk givers and takers
Mafeth wrote about being a milk donee
Cris donated her liquid gold
Pat had a happy problem donating solved
Jenny wrote about wet nursing from a relative's experience
Rachel discussed how she felt about receiving donated milk and nursing an adoptee's baby
Mec insists it takes two to Milk Share Tango
Cai received milk from her sister
