Donating Nourishment

As Milk Banks Increase, So Does Demand continued...

All of them depend on donated milk; all charge nothing. The milk is distributed within regions on a worst-case-first basis. (Human milk for children and adults requires a physician's prescription.) Donors are screened for their health history and take blood tests for the HIV virus, syphilis, and Hepatitis B and C. Breast milk is pumped and delivered to the closest milk bank, where it is cultured and pasteurized.

Consumption of banked milk zoomed in California 33% last year. One reason for the increase, experts speculate, is the American Academy of Pediatrics' urging that mothers exclusively breast-feed their babies for the first six months of life. Adoptive parents, substance abusers, and others who can't nurse are now turning to the banks, all of which report being overwhelmed.

"Of the one-third of new moms who breast-feed, only about one percent donate milk," says Pauline Sakamoto, director of the San Jose facility. "Most donors are women who are happy to have healthy infants and want to help others."

Kelly Sitzman, of Parker, Colo., is one of those women. "I read about a woman whose milk was not good and her child was allergic to formula, so I decided to donate after having my second child."

On the east coast, you can find the nearest milk bank by calling Mary Rose Tully at 919-350-8599 at the Triangle Lactation Center and Milk Bank in Raleigh, North Carolina. On the west coast, phone Pauline Sakamoto at 408-998-4550.