Cash Cow

90 years ago, my great-grandmother Catherine nursed her daughter and her nephew at the same time. Catherine’s sister, Irene, didn’t have enough milk for baby Jackie and my grandma Billie could remember him climbing up to nurse along side her in her mother’s lap.

This is a practice known as cross nursing. Recently there have been several articles published about the resurgence of wet nursing practices. Salon.com, Time and the New York Times have all piggybacked on the zeitgeist competing for media coverage of this new cultural phenomenon. Wet nursing, as opposed to cross nursing, is defined by the La Leche League as: the complete nursing of another’s infant, often for pay.

And like any example of breastfeeding practices in our country, it evokes controversy. It seems strange, albeit historically predictable that over the last 100 years our culture chose to eradicate a biological function in favor of technology. (Conspiracy theories aside, pharmaceutical companies do profit heavily from the production of infant formula.) It is as inane as technology developing a way for humans to not eliminate their own waste. Could you imagine a product or procedure that could bypass our need to pee? It could revolutionize work and travel routines!

Like my great-grandmother Catherine, I too am a human milk machine. I lactate enough to feed the family and farm myself out to other women in need. Last December I received the call. My midwife’s former assistant had a client whose baby was losing weight and needed supplementation post haste. Five-day old Max had lost 10% of his birth weight and his mom, Diane, wasn’t able to sustain enough milk production to feed him. Diane had a breast reduction surgery in her pre-reproductive years and subsequently now suffers from milk supply issues. I pulled a couple bags of my frozen breastmilk from the freezer with the midwife on the phone. “Sure I can help out!” I responded eagerly. As it turns out, Diane and I are also neighbors and since I was on my way out the door, I volunteered to deliver the goods. Diane was dripping with gratitude when she answered the door. Sleep deprived and desperate she had the look of a new parent. Baby Max was restless and wailing in her arms.

“I can pump and bring you more if you want. I don’t mind.” I told her. I had some martyrical agenda to help this family and thus began my unorthodox relationship with them.

Because Max was born on my birthday, I felt a special bond with him, like I owed it to him.  Such a bond is usually reserved for the mother-infant nursing dyad; this may explain the discomfort many squeamish folk felt when they discovered what I was doing. I was some radical anarchist delivering my breastmilk on the down low. I admit it gave me a rush.

There are six breastmilk banks in this country. Women may donate breastmilk by shipping it packed in dry ice at the bank’s expense. Breastmilk banks are very selective about their donors. Upon arrival, the breastmilk is screened for viruses and pasteurized before being distributed to babies in need. Breastmilk banks charge buyers about $2.50 an ounce and require a physician’s prescription. So while the demand for human milk donation is high, the process is time consuming and often cost prohibitive which may explain why some frustrated parents turn to formula. But the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends feeding an infant formula only as a last resort. In order of highest preference to last WHO recommends that a baby receive: 1.) Breastmilk from the mother, 2.) Breastmilk from a Human Milk Bank, 3.) Breastmilk from another woman and 4.) Formula.

Yet even with such an endorsement the use of donated breast milk is not widely accepted.  The La Leche League issues a warning for the informal sharing of human breastmilk. “In the age of potential transmission of HIV, hepatitis, and other viruses through human milk, there is an increased risk of using a wet nurse. There are also new strains of bacteria that are becoming drug resistant and extremely dangerous. Informal sharing of milk between nursing mothers who care for each other's children and nurse them, or sharing expressed milk with a friend or neighbor or acquaintance is not advisable. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifically recommend against this informal sharing of milk.”

I happen to know I am neither HIV positive nor do I have hepatitis. And at the time of my donation I was nursing my own twins who seem to be doing nothing other than benefiting from milk ala mom. While it is true that a woman’s body produces the exact nutritional formulation specific for her nursing baby’s age, the World Health Organization and the La Leche League still agree any breastmilk is preferred over an infant food substitute. And mothers have, do and will successfully tandem nurse siblings of different ages.  So what’s the big deal?

Are we so litigious that experts insist breastmilk is best and yet seek to control the distribution of donated human milk? It is understandable that these organizations need to protect themselves from liability and maintain a respectable reputation of authority. But there are also some cultural attitudes that prevent us from sharing mama’s milk in the community.

Bodily fluid donation is always a point of contention in religious and medical ethics forums. Blood, sperm, eggs and organs all have regulations over what can be sold and how they can be procured. Donating breastmilk is very personal and more similar to renting out your uterus to otherwise incapable parents. So maybe this is really an issue about how women create community or desire a viable income while caring for young children of their own.

Even though Diane and her family did not pay me outright for my breastmilk, they certainly compensated me generously. Over the course of our three month relationship I received: a bottle of wine, a gift certificate for a spa pedicure, three gift certificates for one hour body massages, approximately two loaves of banana bread per week, home baked cookies and a dinner of catered Thai delicacies. I found the relationship extremely lucrative. Of course I would have given my milk freely to baby Max regardless of the onslaught of gifts that ensued. But shouldn’t other women have the right to sell their breastmilk?

The employment agency in LA responsible for the media surge covering wet nurses is Certified Household Staffing which includes “Wet Nurse” in their list of services. Why shouldn’t more employment agencies offer this service to families who for whatever reasons are in need of breastmilk? With the high costs of childcare, women are always looking for a way to earn additional income for their family. Why not provide a little extra milk if they are already nursing? Or better yet, why can't a woman continue lactating beyond her child’s weaning to keep the money flowing? If milk banks screen their donors, why couldn’t employment agencies do the same for interested clients? I’ve been nursing my twins for the last year and a half; I wouldn’t mind submitting a blood test or two for the extra cash. I think I’ll apply now.

Comments

[UK Belstaff Jackets]

Don't know what is wrong what is rite but i know that every one has there own point of view and same goes to this one

[medizinische Fusspflege]

I wouldn't mind as long as the one sharing doesn't have any sickness or any certain ill conditions. Good blog by the way.

[Doctoral Dissertation]

Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!

[Adam Hyla]

Hi there, I just wanted to thank you for posting on the subject and direct you to a story I did about informal milksharing in the Seattle area. The URL is pasted above.

[Melissa Gorgon Clark]

Good for you Beth! I think it is important to normalize breastfeeding practices - including human milk donation.

[Beth]

I shared my mm with a friend's baby and my payment was the good feelings I got from helping . . . the experience is very precious to me. I agree, this shouldn't be viewed as a wacko thing.

[bmc]

and it's hysterical that we both blogged about being cows today ; )

[bmc]

i still can't think of enough ways to thank you. we'll owe you forever.