Hi Ladies,

After my son Ethan was born I attempted to breastfeed him exclusively following the induced lactation protocol that I had developed together with Dr. Jack Newman. I quickly realized that Ethan was not an ?average? baby. In fact he was measuring in the close to the 90th percentile for height and weight. It was obvious that I needed help and fast. In the beginning, our wonderful surrogate mom pumped and shipped her breastmilk to us. She was also helping another mother and so 2/3 of Ethan?s feedings were coming from me, and 1/3 from her. At the end of 3 months and after repeated bouts of mastitis our wonderful surrogate mother decided to wean from the pump. At that point I put the word out that I needed more help and 3 wonderful women stepped up and offered breastmilk.

I decided that if the milk did not come from me or my surrogate, that I would not take any chances, even with a clean bill of health from the donors, I would do as the milk banks do?I would pasteurize the breast milk.

The pasteurizing information that Nona posted is for those of you who don't know your donor all that well and who can't obtain written documentation that the donor has been medically cleared. In my case, our wonderful surrogate mom pumped for 3 months and so pasteurization was not necessary. But as I said, I decided that if anyone donated milk that I didn't know well or didn't have written medical clearance, that I would pasteurize. And so after reading everything I could get my hands on about home pasteurization, I followed the method posted above.

Of course a home pasteurizer would make my life a whole lot easier but I was thinking of the women out there who can't afford to purchase one. Most are $300+

The one most often mentioned in the literature I found was the Safeguard Home Pasteurizer that Christina mentioned. This uses the "vat pasteurization method" and is quoted as an alternative to the "Holder Pasteurization Method".

The actual pasteurization time of 30 minutes was the least time comsuming part of the process. Emptying the bags the milk comes in was the most time consuming. The Gerber Bags are much more convenient than any of the others so far, because they have a "ziplock" type seal which is easy to work with. The other types of bags that you have to close with an elastic, take much longer to open.

As far as the donor requirements are concerned. Of course there are the obvious things....donor must be in good general health, and have a surplus of milk while breastfeeding a child under 1 year of age.....she must be free of HIV, Hepatitis A,B,C, and CMV, and non smoking, non-drinking. The occasional glass of wine does not pose a problem....it's the heavy drinkers that the milk banks want to weed out. For a more complete donor profile, you can visit this web page: http://www.mmbaustin.org/How%20to%20become%20a%20donor.doc

Hope this helps.

Fondly,

Thank you for that info Lenore, you are a wellspring of data. <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Nona,
Thanks for your thoughts on pumps. I'm sorry you bought an Ameda for 800.00 ... I don't feel so bad for the rental cost of $3.35 US per day, though I do wish I wouldn't have wasted all this time and having to give Henry formula!

I will email you about the milk donor ... thank you so much!

Aloha & Hugs,
Christina [color:"brown"] [/color]

Hey everyone,

This is Jenn Connel and I'm the woman that has been helping Christina getting some of her milk! It sounds like Henry is QUITE the little BM addict! <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

The Safeguard Pasteurizer was pretty expensive, but I asked only for money when I found out that I was pregnant - and no gifts. I ended up raising over $900 from just my friends & family and then over $2000 from my website: www.feedmybaby.com. If I was to give any of you advice it would be - BE CREATIVE in how you think about getting / pasteurizing milk! I have encouraged Christina to go to her local media and explain her situation! I believe in the goodness of people - and through my work I've found so MANY people willing to help me feed my son breastmilk! It's really not as hard as you'd think! You just need to make some phone calls and SOMEONE will feature you in their paper! I ended up having my story run in FIVE papers and I was even in the news!!! I'm also a member of my local Mom's group and several of them have offered to pump for me and one even sent her 'early' milk to Christina!

One thing I have said from the beginning of this journey was that "I didn't want to create any problems by feeding my baby breastmilk that ended up being tainted" so that is why I chose to pasteurize. I have gotten to be friends with one of my donors - and have since then decided to stop pasteurizing her milk - but I do still pasteurize the milk of my other donor. I'd just rather be safe than sorry when it comes to my baby!

The pasteurization is SO easy with the Safeguard - but it does take some time. But - I reason that it really takes less time than all of the trips to the Dr. my son would be taking if he was on formula!

I purchased the pasteurizer directly from the company for $265. I also purchased glass 8 oz. bottles from ebottles.com (looking back I wish I'd purchased 6 oz. bottles as the milk would probably thaw faster - but oh well!!!). Those were the only 2 expenses I've had (other than shipping charges - which are minimal compared to the cost of formula!). We use the styrofoam "Omaha Meats" coolers and just ship them back and forth between donors!!! It does take a little juggling at times - but once again... TOTALLY worth it! My son is THRIVING and has only been sick once in his 16 weeks of life!

I do screen all donors with a health questionnaire & I have her send her medical records to my Doctor for final approval.

If anyone needs any help with your pasteurization just drop me an e-mail! jenn@feedmybaby.com

<img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> Jenn

Jenn,
am glad getting milk for your baby was pretty easy. But I had a mommy in california who put an add in the paper and got in legal trouble for it. The health department sent her a letter threatening to file charges against her if she did not cease advertising for breastmilk. They said it was a health hazard. So I don't know how well that would work. Some states are very strict about that. I also have a pasteurizer. I got it from ebay. Its an old model Farm master. Its very easy to pasteurize milk. Fill the pail and turn it on. Thats it. A buzzer goes off when its done. Then the cooling down of course. But it is very simple procedure.

Jenn has sure been Henry's Angel ... thanks to her he had a huge poopey diaper tonight with a lot less strain than before. Meanwhile, my production has increased a teeny bit ... I'm up to two and sometimes three ounces per day.

Nona has also been Henry's angel on the lookout for donations. The donor we thought we had did not come through, and I always believe things happen for reasons. I feel blessed to have both Jenn and Nona's help, as well as the support of Lenore and her website.

Lenore's pasteurizing process has worked well too, and it gets easier each time I do it.

Aloha,
Christina

Christina,
thanks on the heads up about the aluminum pot. I sold my pasteurizer back on ebay lol! I got a stainless steal pot for it. But the stainless would not hold the heat. Atleat not in the older ones. So I will be pasteurizing on the stove tomorrow. I am just thankful to have this cooler of milk. My baby is coming soon ughhh. This is the mom who was going to toss the whole thing. But I talked her into sending to me and I would pasteurize it. Its the only way she would send. .remember people spooked her..I will let you know how the pasteurizing goes. .I am using quart jars..

How many ounce are you getting per day Nona? By the way, today I finally got the PIS ... I'll keep you posted on my progress. The containers I'm using for pasteurizing so far are the four ounce bottles I got from the milk bank. I like them because they are short and take less water in the pot to heat, so the process is slightly faster. The downside is I have to pasteurize more often. However, I don't mind this because I prefer not to refreeze the milk unless I know I won't have time to pasteurize. Also, these containers are easier to pour from and fit nicely on the top shelf of my frig. If we all lived close to one another, we could have pasteurizing parties!

Aloha,
Christina