If you haven't followed this mother , I guess you could find this story odd, but I've read her post for months and she has gone to the ends of the earth to try to help her baby. For a long time, the drs just shrugged their shoulders while her baby continued to drop in the growth chart but because she was still on it they did nothing to help her. I've donated to her - she's lovely and desperate to help her baby - her family is also lovely and there is nothing strange about this story. Yes, there are crazy people on the internet, but this is NOT one of them. She just needs breast milk and her baby Keeps growing. Without it her baby is starving and getting a g tube. This baby will be ok because she has an awesome mama fighting for her - let's help her all we can.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish everyone on these posts who responds with unsolicited advice would go away. For those who have not read her experiences with feeding, it has been a long and ongoing saga. She is obviously doing everything she can to help her daughter, and is now asking a community for help in a desperate time. So, please consider reserving the judgement or opinion on safety and trust that she has weighed the cost/benefits of all actions involved. The best thing to do now is offer SUPPORT, not judgement. OP: hope you are able to connect with the helpful individuals in this post and know that we are all thinking of you! (I don't have any frozen BM - wish I did!) p.s. obviously, the outpouring of support is amazing and outweighs the negative posters. But still.

First of all, this is the internet.

Second of all, this is just a strange story. If a baby is so malnourished as to require donated breast milk to survive, that seems like a medical emergency that medical professionals should be dealing with. Not pleading on facebook for random strangers to meet you at starbucks to drop off their old breast milk.

Thank you for your comment. We continue to be seen by a specialist (have seen several and have tried 4 different drugs with side effects) and have a medical plan in place. This was to tide us over since baby is hardly consuming the hypoallergenic formula and BM was much better received. I have not posted on facebook or any listserv. I just posted on DCUM and received some BM that moms could spare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish everyone on these posts who responds with unsolicited advice would go away. For those who have not read her experiences with feeding, it has been a long and ongoing saga. She is obviously doing everything she can to help her daughter, and is now asking a community for help in a desperate time. So, please consider reserving the judgement or opinion on safety and trust that she has weighed the cost/benefits of all actions involved. The best thing to do now is offer SUPPORT, not judgement. OP: hope you are able to connect with the helpful individuals in this post and know that we are all thinking of you! (I don't have any frozen BM - wish I did!) p.s. obviously, the outpouring of support is amazing and outweighs the negative posters. But still.

First of all, this is the internet.

Second of all, this is just a strange story. If a baby is so malnourished as to require donated breast milk to survive, that seems like a medical emergency that medical professionals should be dealing with. Not pleading on facebook for random strangers to meet you at starbucks to drop off their old breast milk.

+1,000

OP. Our family was able to pick up BM from a wonderful mom today in NoVA (who also offered suggestions about another specialist we should try to see) and I have requested a friend to pick up from another mom in DC tomorrow and Tuesday. That should help us for 10 days. A couple of moms have kindly offered to contact some friends/colleagues to see if they have surplus.

The other 2 who generously offered are in DC/MD and I don't have the resources to collect that milk. PP who posted here to offer your BM to my LO (and you have a 7 month old!!) I would never take that - would make me feel selfish. Preemies and other babies with a higher medical need deserve it better.

I am only looking for BM that moms are going to donate or throw away anyway. My DH thinks I have grown another head as he doesn't think BM now is all that it's made out to be but I beg to differ having seen my LO do so much better on it and actually get in the 7-8%. DH is now pushing for the invasive tests and the tube that we have delayed this long as a joint decision. Had it not been for the therapist who is very hopeful of ramping up the solids in the next few weeks (she thinks LO also has PTSD due to reflux Reflux is truly one of the worst ailments a child can have because it has such negative cascading effects in so many areas.

PP/PPs, I have weighed the benefits and risk, believe me and I am well aware of the article/comments you posted to warn me - appreciate it but you have no idea of our unique situation. I have donated to a preemie when I was pumping and had enough to spare at the time and I have no regrets and the family who received it really benefited.

All the other PPs thank you for your support. I truly appreciate it.

Anonymous wrote:I wish everyone on these posts who responds with unsolicited advice would go away. For those who have not read her experiences with feeding, it has been a long and ongoing saga. She is obviously doing everything she can to help her daughter, and is now asking a community for help in a desperate time. So, please consider reserving the judgement or opinion on safety and trust that she has weighed the cost/benefits of all actions involved. The best thing to do now is offer SUPPORT, not judgement. OP: hope you are able to connect with the helpful individuals in this post and know that we are all thinking of you! (I don't have any frozen BM - wish I did!) p.s. obviously, the outpouring of support is amazing and outweighs the negative posters. But still.

First of all, this is the internet.

Second of all, this is just a strange story. If a baby is so malnourished as to require donated breast milk to survive, that seems like a medical emergency that medical professionals should be dealing with. Not pleading on facebook for random strangers to meet you at starbucks to drop off their old breast milk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you tried Human Milk For Human Babies - Virginia on Facebook yet? There are lots of donors in the Fairfax area.

Please don't let that NYT article scare you. That looked at milk that people bought online and sent through the mail. Local mom-to-mom milk donations are nothing like that. It's not for profit and you can meet the mom, who originally pumped the milk for her own baby.

I'm in Fairfax County too and wish I could help, but my supply is low and we're nearly weaning. I can recommend a great ped in Springfield if that would help.

+1. People who sell are not concerned about quality. I wouldn't buy milk. And I would rather go with local mom to mom donations.

Source please? What is the factual basis for this comment? If that's really what you got out of that article, you need to read it again. I only included excerpts in my post for brevity's sake. Sharing breast milk is risky, period. It is a fact, not an opinion.

OP - please post an update.

I wish everyone on these posts who responds with unsolicited advice would go away. For those who have not read her experiences with feeding, it has been a long and ongoing saga. She is obviously doing everything she can to help her daughter, and is now asking a community for help in a desperate time. So, please consider reserving the judgement or opinion on safety and trust that she has weighed the cost/benefits of all actions involved. The best thing to do now is offer SUPPORT, not judgement. OP: hope you are able to connect with the helpful individuals in this post and know that we are all thinking of you! (I don't have any frozen BM - wish I did!) p.s. obviously, the outpouring of support is amazing and outweighs the negative posters. But still.

In normal situations I would say no way but its a trade off to a medical procedure. Good luck OP.. I hope enough people come through. We went through many formulas and bottles and got lucky... I can't imaging what would have happened if we could do formula.

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you tried Human Milk For Human Babies - Virginia on Facebook yet? There are lots of donors in the Fairfax area.

Please don't let that NYT article scare you. That looked at milk that people bought online and sent through the mail. Local mom-to-mom milk donations are nothing like that. It's not for profit and you can meet the mom, who originally pumped the milk for her own baby.

I'm in Fairfax County too and wish I could help, but my supply is low and we're nearly weaning. I can recommend a great ped in Springfield if that would help.

+1. People who sell are not concerned about quality. I wouldn't buy milk. And I would rather go with local mom to mom donations.

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you tried Human Milk For Human Babies - Virginia on Facebook yet? There are lots of donors in the Fairfax area.

Please don't let that NYT article scare you. That looked at milk that people bought online and sent through the mail. Local mom-to-mom milk donations are nothing like that. It's not for profit and you can meet the mom, who originally pumped the milk for her own baby.

I'm in Fairfax County too and wish I could help, but my supply is low and we're nearly weaning. I can recommend a great ped in Springfield if that would help.

Not OP. I offered some milk to the OP but I am in Baltimore and only have about 40 oz. She seems like a wonderful mom and in need. I am on my phone and am wearing my LO. Can someone post this for the mom on Facebook?

I could not agree more. Where's the provenance?

All...OP, I know you want what's best for your baby, and PPs, you want to help, but sharing unpasteurized breastmilk is not a safe practice at all. A milk bank is much safer since they pasteurize the milk first.

Did any of you read this?

New York Times: "Breast Milk Donated or Sold Online Is Often Tainted, Study Says"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/health/breast-mi...n-tainted-study-says.html?_r=0

A couple of excerpts:

"A cottage industry has sprung up facilitating the sale and donation of human breast milk on the Internet, but a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics confirms the concerns of health professionals over this unregulated marketplace.

The report found that breast milk bought from two popular Web sites was often contaminated with high levels of bacteria, including, in a few instances, salmonella. The amounts detected in some samples were sufficient to sicken a child.

“The study makes you worry,” said Dr. Richard A. Polin, the director of neonatology and perinatology at Columbia University, who was not involved in the research. “This is a potential cause of disease. Even with a relative, it’s probably not a good idea to share.” ...

Dr. Keim and her colleagues collected 101 samples from milk-sharing Web sites, recording the sellers’ assertions about their own health and their methods of handling and storage. Then the researchers analyzed the bacterial content in the samples, comparing them with unpasteurized breast milk from screened donors at banks.

The researchers found that 64 percent of the samples from milk-sharing sites were contaminated with staph, 36 percent with strep, and almost three-quarters with other bacterial species. Three of the samples contained salmonella. Seventy-four percent of the samples would have failed milk bank criteria. ...

“If you get milk from an unscreened sharer, you put your child at risk,” she said. “I hate to say this to an informal sharer, because they are trying to do good. But they are playing a game of Russian roulette.”

The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate the buying or selling of breast milk, but the agency discourages both online and person-to-person sharing.

OP, have you tried Human Milk For Human Babies - Virginia on Facebook yet? There are lots of donors in the Fairfax area.

Please don't let that NYT article scare you. That looked at milk that people bought online and sent through the mail. Local mom-to-mom milk donations are nothing like that. It's not for profit and you can meet the mom, who originally pumped the milk for her own baby.

I'm in Fairfax County too and wish I could help, but my supply is low and we're nearly weaning. I can recommend a great ped in Springfield if that would help.

OP, I just saw your post and have not had chance to read all the pages but will find the post I had seen about a month back where a mom had a few thousand ounces extra. If you could get that, that would really help and would be much easier for you than trying to gather few ounces from different moms all over the DC metro area. I have already weaned but would have loved to help you outl if BM has proved to help your baby so much you really must try to give that while you increase solids. Also I wouldn't pay for donated milk, but that's just me.