Disclaimer

  • These postings are for general information. They are not intended as personal advice or for use for self-diagnosis. I am not your doctor. If you are in distress, please consult your physician asap.

Natural health

Google

Linkreferral

  • Digestion, health and nutrition written by a gastroenterologist and nutritionist

Who is linking?

BlogLinker

  • Linked blogs

BlogCatalog

  • My BlogCatalog BlogRank

Google search

  • Google

    WWW
    minochahealth.typepad.com

Yahoo! News: Most Emailed

« Breast feeding | Main | IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME »

MILK BANK

Breast milk feeding of babies by lactating mothers is gaining in popularity and so is use of milk banks.

Use of donor milk from milk bank

Human milk may be obtained from milk bank in case of mothers unable to feed the baby. In case of premature babies, the quantity of nutrients in breast milk may not meet the great nutrient needs.

Donor pasteurized human milk may serve as a useful proxy for the mother's own milk. Human milk supplements, or fortifiers, may be used to supplement the nutrient content of unfortified breast milk. Host defense benefits are also observed in such situations.

Milk bank guidelines

In order to maximize benefits and minimize risks of donated milk from milk banks, strict guidelines have been set forth by the Human Milk Bank of North America. These include the following:

  • Screening of donors of milk by clinical history and blood tests to exclude HIV, hepatitis B and C, HTLV and syphillis.
  • Milk is collected, pooled and pasteurized.
  • Creamatocrit is also performed to determine the calorie/nutrient content.

Pasteurization of donor milk results in killing of several viruses with only a limited impact on antibodies, growth factors, lysozyme etc. However, microwaving does significantly destroy the anti-infective components in the milk.

Note that no GVHD (graft versus host disease) occurs as a result of milk therapy.

What do you think about milk banks? Would you use it for your child if the physician recommended?

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341d31d553ef00d834f7577353ef

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference MILK BANK:

Comments

I would if it was recommended. I even considered donating to a milk bank but ended up getting pregnant again before I could follow up on the thought

Given appropriate application of the guidelines? Yes, if a physician recommended it then I would accept it.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.

Google ads

GERD or heartburn

Google links

Interesting bogs

Technocriti