Guest Post: Sourcing Breastmilk for an Adopted Baby

Remember early this year when I posted about a milk sharing story about adoptive dads who sourced breastmilk for their baby?  This time, I am sharing a story closer to home.  Today's guest post is from Jason Baker of PETA Asia Pacific.  A friend of Jason posted in one of my egroups about how he was looking for breastmilk for his adopted son.  Super small world, I patched him up with a kababayan from Davao City and Pangging became a regular milk donor.   Jason shared this story with me almost a year ago and I wasn't able to share it until now.

http://instagram.com/p/k0x3uRKXSF/?modal=true

Why did I decide to share?  Since it is breastfeeding month, I've been seeing a lot of stories about breastfeeding in various news outfits. However, I was greatly saddened when a popular site shared a story about a mom saying that breastfeeding advocates condemn formula feeding moms.  She goes on to say that counselors live in posh villages, that formula milk is good enough for her child, that it is impossible for a working mom to commute and bring all her breastfeeding paraphernalia.

Help the Arugaan mission for Haiyan victims this April

Posting this for Arugaan:

Last Dec 2013 and Jan 2014, Arugaan with 29 BESTeam (Breastfeeding Experts Support Team) went to 10 municipalities/city in Leyte/Samar areas badly devastated by typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. We have covered more than 6,000 mothers-babies/young children in more than 200 barangays. We did breastfeeding counseling, breastfeeding empowerment, mother-baby friendly tents, hot meals for the mothers and young children, etc etc.

Stories from the Nanay Bayanihan Center #yolandaPH

It all started with a private message.  A fellow breastfeeding mom was concerned because she had been seeing calls for formula milk donation at Villamor Airbase.  She had been helping out in Villamor Airbase because she found herself not being able to leave.  Camille Favorito shared that her officemate experienced first hand how it was in Villamor during the early days, when they were waiting for their own relatives from Tacloban.  There was no receiving process - no food, no medical teams.  They volunteered to help and have not left.

The scene at Villamor Airbase #yolandaPH

I went to Villamor this morning for a meeting on setting up mother-baby friendly spaces with several breastfeeding groups.  However, we realized that action was immediately needed and ended up talking to and assisting evacuees with babies.

C130 just landed

I also had the chance to see a C-130 land in Villamor and streams of people from varying ages and conditions streamed into the waiting area.  The system at the Villamor Airbase is organized by the Army wives, let by Mrs. Kintanar, Mrs. Ona and Mrs. Rayos.

New arrivals are ushered into the waiting area. People with injuries are immediatel y and people stream into the waiting area - moms babies, families, old people, people with injuries, the latter being directed immediately to the clinic area for medical assistance.

This waiting area is filled with monobloc chairs where they are given food, water, allowed to rest. Volunteer stress de-briefers interview them - 1 per family - name/ages of family members, what area did they come from (Tacloban, Tanuan, Guian, etc).  Then, the volunteers check what their immediate needs are: may sugat, may sakit, may karamdaman, or if with kids, nappies?

breastfeeding mom gets
interviewed by meda

If they have wounds or feel unwell, they are immediately brought to the clinic area where register and then get interviewed by a nurse. then a doctor checks them and prescribes medicines if needed. Then they go to a pharmacy area where medicines are dispensed.   If they need clothes, there is also an area where they can get some clothes - clothes are not randomly given to them but they get to pick what fits them.

Next, if they have relatives, globe/sun/smart have set up calling booths. They call their relatives to get picked up. Some are ferried to bus stations by transport volunteers. Those who have nowhere to go are sent to another waiting area and will be transported to the DSWD shelter in Mandaluyong.

view from the back

So what is needed there? Volunteers to be transport coordinators. If you can volunteer to be one, contact Golda Benjamin 09178117007. Hot food - they are asking if per food donation can be good for 150 people. Sana healthy nutritious food arroz caldo or monggo and not fast food. Clothes for the infants and the children.

Several breastfeeding groups have banded together and will be working with DOH/IYCF Coordinators to set up mother-baby friendly places where moms can get affirmation and breastfeeding counseling. I want to correct the misconception na --pano na mga formula fed babies? mamatay? It is DOH's duty to dispense formula milk to babies who truly need them.   Donations of formula milk are prohibited when made to the general public, when included with the individual relief good packs.  However, if it is found that there are moms in the evacuation centers or crisis area who need it, they can get it from the DOH coordinator.

waiting for transport to
the DSWD shelter

Earlier, we saw several babies and most were breastfeeding. I only saw 2 who were formula feeding and they were already older children - past 1.  The goal for these kids is to help them get past reliance on milk and eat more solids. The babies at the evacuation centers all came with their mothers.

What we want aim to do is to encourage them to breastfeed and not drown them in donations of BM substitutes. Breastmilk given to the kids if needed is pasteurized. Donated BM is not the end. it is a stop-gap. the end is put the babies back to breastfeeding.

There are no numbers of how many babies are currently without mothers - even the Philippine government does not have this figure.  The number we have is that on the ground - in this case in Villamor Air Base.  Babies need medical assistance - medicines which are dispenses accordingly but not formula milk.

If this morning's visit was going to be a barometer, I would say that there were only 2 kids - old kids who could've been recipients of the breastmilk donation.  All the other babies there were breastfeeding.  If you are worried about the health of the milk donor, milk is pasteurized.  In all transport of milk,  we ensure that the cold chain is preserved - milk will not be spoiled.  Spoiled milk will never be fed to the babies.  Again the end goal is put the babies back to breastfeeding.  If you give formula milk, you can never ensure that the powdered milk is clean, that the water used to mix it is clean - that the bottle you use is BPA-free.  Finally, you cannot promise a continuous supply of formula milk for 6 months.

The negative effects of distributing formula milk or breastmilk substitutes have been proven internationally and locally and is evidence-based.  Hindi ito sabi-sabi or gawa-gawa lang.  These are international standards and I am ashamed to say that by allowing formula milk donations on site - given and distributed generally, paatras tayo as a country.

To end, if you want to help this Villamor Air Base activity, here are concrete things you can do:
1. Sign up for a shift at the mother-baby friendly space - bit.ly/NanayBayanihan
2. Volunteer transportation by contacting the coordinator Golda Benjamin 09178117007
3. Donate hot food - good for 150 people at least.  Pool your resources with your friends.  I'm actually looking for manangs/manongs who cook and sell hot food on the street.  Perhaps we can buy their entire day's sales and ask them to distribute their food in Villamor.  To donate food, please contact COMBI Officer Ms. Rose Villarin 09159299292 or contact Pasay City Health Office 8318201
4. Donate usable clothes for the infants and the children.

Bayanihan iFE | Infographics

#yolandaPH

Milk Donation for #YolandaPH - Where your milk goes

Let me start this post by listing down places where you can donate your milk.

In Davao City, here are the contact persons:

Moms in Cagayan de Oro can also donate breastmilk and you can see where in the poster below.

Plus more:
1. Favorita Store at 1718 JR Borja Ext., Sta. Cecilia Village Gusa.
2. Ororama Cogon Superstore -store hours

Cebu moms can donate milk to Dr. Lilibeth Espinosa at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center NICU.

For Metro Manila,drop off your milk at the following locations:
Makati Human Milk Bank
1126 E. Rodriguez Ave. Cor. MH Del Pilar St. Bangkal Makati City
09486509194/09275619889

Alay Gatas Headquarters Human Milk Bank
Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Quezon Avenue, Quezon City
(02)924-6601 to 25 loc. 288

Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital
Lope de Vega, Sta. Cruz, Manila
(02) 734-5561 loc. 156

The Medical City Lactation Unit
The Medical City, Ortigas Avenue
(02) 635-6789 loc. 6720

St. Luke's Medical Center Lactation Unit
8th floor North Wing, Bonifacio Global City
(02) 789-7700 loc. 7118 

The Medela House,
29 1st St., New Manila, Quezon City
(02) 725-3723

If you noticed, I excluded UP-PGH Milk Bank in the list because they are simply inundated with calls and donations.  In normal conditions, you can donate milk at the UP-PGH Milk Bank. However, during these times, on top of preparing and pasteurizing the milk, they also have to coordinate distribution.  Hence, drop offs will now be focused on other locations and milk will be transported to UP-PGH Milk Bank when they are ready to pasteurize.

Once More: No Milk Donations During Calamities

Every time there is a calamity in the Philippines, I have to share posts on my Facebook and Twitter accounts about the prohibition on milk donations.  This time, I feel that a blog post is in order because I saw these posts on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151975909124911&set=a.58908059910.66243.645444910&type=1

Newborns and infants are, probably, the most vulnerable in times of tragedy.

Let us help some of them who have no access to breastmilk. Since

powdered formula milk is prohibited due to lack of clean water, pre-mix formula 

is the best option. Unfortunately, one of the biggest drugstores here

in the Philippines does not sell pre-mix. 

To our kababayans abroad who have the means to acquire premix formula,

may the spirit of bayanihan be with you. From drop off points, all donations will be sent to Philippine Red Cross. For transparency, please label your donations with your names.

Preferred package: pre-mix formula with disposable teats/nipples

(There is no water and electricity to sterilize bottles.)

Compilation of Emergency Posts - Again - No Formula Milk Donations Please!

I have written several posts about breastfeeding during emergencies and calamities.  They are spread out through 4-5 years.  In this post, I will attempt to compile them so you can easily click and refer to the ones relevant to you.

For breastfeeding moms, a top worry during storms would be brownouts especially on how these affect frozen breastmilk.  Visit my post "Brownouts and Breastmilk" to read how you can preserve your breastmilk during power outages and information on refreezing milk.

Breastmilk for Sale

This was shared to me by fellow LATCHer Mec on FB.  Mec was tagged by her friend Jah who shared that she saw the ad on the Sulit website.  I went to sulit and saw 2 ads offering breast milk for sale.  I also saw an ad in Multiply.  Both of them also offered to swap the milk for diapers:

Breast Milk for Sale or Swap

karenyang1234.sulit.com.ph - Wednesday, February 20, 2013

2013 © Sulit.com.ph

FROZEN BREASTMILK FOR SALE OR SWAP(DIAPERS)

Naturalorigins.sulit.com.ph - Friday, January 4, 2013

2013 © Sulit.com.ph

A Milk Sharing Story

Update 22 February 2014:  I have edited this post upon the request of J, who initially shared his story with me.  They initially asked me to delete this post.  However, I feel that it is such an important story to share.  To compromise, we agreed on changing the names as they want to preserve their anonymity.

Remember my post entitled "Concerns of a Milk Donor Mom" where I shared the hierarchy of babies that I donate to:

I do have a hierarchy of babies I give milk to - first would be the sick or premature babies then multiples and milk banks, then for emergencies, e.g. mom got sick, etc. If your baby is healthy and you just cannot pump enough milk, ASKING FOR MILK is not sustainable - you need to bring up your own supply

N

I received an email from Victor, a reader from the US who emailed me about this hierarchy.  He is a new parent and is in a male same-sex relationship.  Since both of them are men, it was impossible for one of them to relactate, unlike an adoption involving a heterosexual couple.  Victor shared how they were able to provide breastmilk to their baby girl through milk donations for several moms.  He wanted to know how families such as theirs ranked in my hierarchy of milk donations.  The baby was healthy but there was no "mom" who can lactate and produce milk.

Does it have to be a contest?

On the top of last week's news was about a Texas mom who donated more than 86 gallons of breastmilk to a milk bank.   Definitely admirable!  Moms with excess milk who donate are blessings to milk banks and babies whose moms cannot make enough milk or are sick.

However, publicity about these donations and excess milk donors sometimes have adverse consequences.  For instance, my friend Mec shared that at the height of Sendong, she wanted to donate milk and felt bad that she couldn't.  She was with her nursling 24/7 and didn't see the need to pump.  She eventually found peace with her ability to produce just enough for her nursling and writes about it here.

Milk Mama Diaries: Wet Nursing

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.

Wet nursing has been in existence for several centuries.  I previously wrote about a UK TV show which talked about other people's breastmilk.  Locally, milk sharing is done through milk banks or mother to mother donations.  And of course, we have all heard of Salma Hayek breastfeeding another baby.

Join our September Milk Mama Diaries Carnival - World Milksharing Week 2012

It is time for another Milk Mama Diaries Blog Carnival.  I apologize if my co-host Mec (Mec as Mom) and I have not been able to regularly host the carnival for the past 6 months.   However, this is a perfect time to host a carnival as next week, September 24-30 is World Milksharing Week 2012.  The theme is: Sharing Milk, Nurturing Community.

I have previously written about donating breastmilk and its importance especially during emergencies and calamities.   Milk banks are also constantly in need of donated milk to provide for the NICU babies who rely on them.

For this carnival, Mec and I are inviting mom/dad bloggers to share their thoughts/experiences on and hopes for sharing milk.   The carnival is also open to families who are milk recipients and would like to share their own experiences or challenges being a milk donee. Check out my previous carnival posts to get an idea of how the blog carnival works and how posts look like. To join, please fill up the form here or below.

Breastmilk Donation Updates

I just got off the phone with Ms. Bessie Borja of DOH.  Breastmilk donations are continuously being accepted at UP-PGH Milk Bank, under Dr. Aurora Libadia.  Aside from UP-PGH, Fabella and PCMC also have pasteurizers.  However, the PCMC pasteurizer is small while Fabella has regular breast milk supply from the mothers who give birth at their hospital.  The best place to donate would be to UP-PGH.  The donations brought to Medela House also eventually end up in UP-PGH. 

UP-PGH needs about 80 liters of milk to run their pasteurization machine.  The milk is then ready to be deployed to the evacuation centers, if necessary.  The contact person to request for breastmilk donations is CHD-Metro Manila's Ms. Myrna Lapuz.  

As of today, Ms. Bessie Borja has been in touch with local health officers and mentioned that there is no immediate need yet for deployment of breastmilk.  However, it would be best if we can continue the breastmilk drive and transfer to UP-PGH so that the milk can be pasteurized. 

For breastmilk donations, you can bring them to:

a. UP-PGH Milk Bank, contact Nurse Tina or Grace 0921-453-5310 or 5362867

b. The Medela House, No. 29, 1st Steet, New Manila, Quezon City - 09175614366 or 7253723

*The milk here will be pasteurized at UP-PGH Milk Bank and ready for deployment.

If you want to give to a specific recipient, you can donate breastmilk directly to CRIBS Foundation, Inc.

#15 Major Dizon St., Industrial Valley Complex, Marikina City 1802; (632)681-5921, (632)681-8078, (632) 576-7693; (632) 647-1329  Cellphone no. :  0917-5112742

Just a reminder, if you are asking for formula milk donations or offering formula milk donations, please note that it is illegal under the Milk Code UNLESS you apply for and have clearance from the IAC.  Please read these guidelines - http://www.fda.gov.ph/AO/AO%2003-B,%20s.%202000.pdf  SCROLL TO IV-B.  

NO! to formula milk donations

We are again in the middle of an emergency.  There have been several calls for donation and despite previous reminders about not asking for formula milk donations, here's another one:

I previously posted about why formula milk donations should not be accepted during emergencies and disasters but here is a recent and first hand sharing by Dr. Zeka Tatad-To:

Milk Delivery Services Within Metro Manila

Two days ago, Mi'ann of Babymama and I were chatting about the usability of a milk delivery service within Metro Manila.  Mi'ann has been in touch with Candy of Pedala Messengers to set-up a delivery service where the milk recipients need not pick up milk from the donors themselves.  Mi'Ann posted this note in Facebook but I am reposting it here for the benefit of those without Facebook access and because Facebook notes tend to be buried under new notes or posts.  Great job Babymama!

Why milk product donations shouldn't be allowed during disasters

In the 23 February 2012 edition of the Inquirer, a letter to the editor was sent by Corazon del Mundo, chair of Women Involved in Nation-Building, directing the readers' attention to the Sendong disaster and listing down reasons why donations of milk products should be allowed and be coursed through government agencies.  This letter was in response to the column by Rina Jimenez-David on milk and malnutrition where she wrote about the perils of donations of powdered formula or milk.   

This brings us to the problem of donations of powdered formula or milk, which are among the first and most common items sent in response to disasters. “In the confusion that surrounds emergencies, these products are often distributed in an uncontrolled way and used by mothers who would otherwise breastfeed their babies,” says Unicef, adding that indiscriminate use of donated milk “results in unnecessary illness and death for infants.”

The Gift of Breastmilk

With E's jaundice scare, I decided to start expressing milk.  N had been required to take formula and I was not able to express enough milk to match the formula requirement.  So I wanted to be prepared and in case E was going to be put under phototherapy and be required to take formula, I wanted to make sure that I had enough stored milk to match the formula requirement.
I started expressing milk, once a day, on new year's day.  Luckily, at his 2-week check-up, the pediatrician said that E's color was much better and no phototherapy was required.  Thus, I was able to stock up on milk and by the end of January, I had about 100 ounces stored.

Responsible Milk Sharing

Sometime ago, I shared a program of UP-PGH Milk Bank - Operation Foster Milk and a human milk sharing page on Facebook known as Human Milk for Human Babies - The Philippines.  Advocates have been divided and have mixed reactions to this informal milk sharing.

Donor moms are receptive to the idea of having donee-moms get the milk directly from them while moms who are looking for breastmilk usually find it difficult to get pasteurized milk from human milk banks and find the informal milk sharing network more accessible.

I was a donor to both milk banks and individual moms at the height of my milk-making career.  I donated to PCMC (a representative from the bank picked it up) and UP-PGH (I had to drop off the milk) and to individual moms who pick-up the milk from my place.  Honestly, I preferred to donate milk to individual moms as they do so at my own convenience e.g. they bring their own coolers and pick-up from my place.  Whereas donating to UP-PGH was so cumbersome since I had to pack up the milk in the cooler, look for parking, pay for parking and bring the milk up - with their elevators usually jampacked.  Although now,  PGH has volunteers to pick-up the milk upon schedule. Plus, the thank you that you receive from individual moms is much more satisfying.

Arugaan needs your help!

Arugaan, a mother support community, currently has a project with WHO, DOH and they need your help!!  This is an offshoot of the DOH Breastfeeding TSEK Program and Arugaan is tasked with the
training of breastfeeding peer counselors for TSEK Exclusive Breastfeeding or Gumagabay sa Nanay sa Tamang Pagpapasuso.

What is the reason for the TSEK campaign?  Exclusive breastfeeding rates in the Philippines are at a dismal low of 34% (for babies 0-6months) and a lot of moms give their infants water.  Even if moms just eliminate the water, exclusive breastfeeding rates will actually increase.  Research shows that 1 out of 4 Filipino kids are malnourished.  Studies have shown that malnourished kids are usually those who started with being bottlefed.  If moms choose to exclusively breastfeed their babies, then rates of malnourished children will definitely decrease.  Malnourishment is seen to be a chain of events which starts with the wrong feeding practices at infancy.  TSEK seeks to curb malnutrition by promoting and increasing breastfeeding rates in this country.

listening to the lectures

Basically, Arugaan will train and mentor selected peer counselors from key cities to be knowledgeable in the art and skills of breastfeeding counseling in their respective communities for sustainability.  Target reach is 32 cities in the Philippines and since starting in May 2011, Arugraan has already trained more than 1,600 peer counselors in Navotas, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Marikina, Pasig, Caloocan and Taguig!

Red Cross and Juday

I want to share 2 things I read about last week that made me quite sad

On Red Cross and Bottlefeeding:

what message do you think this poster sends?

I first read about Red Cross' poster over at Blacktating. When I saw this poster - the first thing that came into my mind is - how the heck are they going to clean that bottle?! I am again reminded of previous experiences on emergencies in Haiti and in the Philippines, during Ondoy.

As Tanya over at Motherwear blog shares, in times of emergencies, it is more important to feed the nursing moms so they in turn can feed their babies -- rather than providing them with boxes and cans of milk and bottles.

Two years ago (2009), World Breastfeeding Week's theme was Breastfeeding, a crucial priority for child survival in emergencies. Since then, the world has faced several more emergencies - Haiti, Ondoy, Indonesian earthquake, New Zealand earthquake, conflicts in the Middle East and now the tsunami and earthwake plus potential nuclear disaster in Japan! Even locally, there are tornadoes in Lanao del Norte and floods in the Visayas.

Despite several issues on sanitation, water supply, it seems that the message being sent out by donation agencies is still "send us milk"! According to this report, breastfeeding rates in Japan are lower than the US. I wonder how the rates will be after this emergency?

*On 21 March 2011, UNICEF released a Joint Statement with the Nutrition Cluster which you can access here. Although the statement is focused on emergencies in Northern Africa, the same points are applicable in the Japan situation. Emphasis on the critical protection from infection conferred by breastfeeding in environments without safe water supply and sanitation. Further, IT IS NOT TRUE that during emergencies, mothers can no longer breastfeed adequately because of stress or inadequate nutrition.

Juday and Lactum

I was even more disappointed to see this paid advertorial entitled "Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo, now a 100% panatag mom".

A friend told me that while she was pregnant with Lucho, she had already signed a contract with Mead Johnson and among the terms of the contract was that she will not promote breastfeeding. But I know for a fact that she DID breastfeed Lucho and she requested a breastfeeding class to help her successfully breastfeed.

I posted this on my FB page and got varied reactions. Several pointed out that the milk being promoted is for her 6-year old daughter and not her baby son. My position is that she could have chosen to promote breastfeeding to her legions of fans and by choosing to endorse a formula company - even if it is a kid formula, she has effectively shut the door on her being called on and be considered as a breastfeeding advocate.

Then again, if Mead Johnson paid P2M to partner with a nutritional organization, it makes me wonder how much they paid Judy Ann for this endorsement. You can just imagine how much Mead Johnson pays for their advertising and marketing - aside from Judy Ann, they have other panatag moms - Carmina Villaroel, Jodi Sta. Maria and Claudine Barreto. Milk formula is a huge $$$ business!

*Update: Here's a link to the column of Ricky Lo. At 5 months, Juday is mix feeding Lucho with breastmilk and formula.