Breast milk donors make sure everyone benefits

Anni had her second child on 29 April. Even though the baby was very much expected, the delivery was not – Anni’s baby boy was in a bit of a rush to meet his family and decided to come a few months too early when the pregnancy was still at week 30.

Rinnapiimadoonor Anni_kodulehele

Even though he was not due until 5 July, he weighed 1535 grams on the day he was born. “Having the baby prematurely was unexpected,” says Anni, “even though there were small warning signs as early as week 25 of the pregnancy.”

Anni considered becoming a breast milk donor after her first child was born. She knows from experience that there is often leftover milk from feeding the baby, especially if you need to pump it out for one reason or another. Now that she was expecting her second child, she was giving serious thought to becoming a breast milk donor after the delivery. “When the baby was born prematurely,” says Anni, “I was initially afraid that I would not be allowed to become a donor. But luckily my fears were unfounded. Being the mother of a premature child is no obstacle to donating milk, you just have to make sure you have enough for your own child and for others. In fact, apparently mothers of premature children have fattier breast milk and that is exactly what you need for small babies.”

After the birth, Anni was able to experience both sides of breast milk donorship: as her baby was premature, he was given donated breast milk during his first days in this world, and today Anni has enough breast milk to be a donor for others.

According to Anni, she is delighted to be of help. Working in the medical field has taught her how vitally important donorship can be. “In the past,” says Anni, “I’ve also tried donating blood, but my haemoglobin levels have been too low. Now, I can help in a different way while still being a donor; by donating breast milk.”

All healthy and lactating women with children under the age of 6 months can become breast milk donors. Donating breast milk is voluntary and not compensated. All donor candidates will undergo necessary testing (questionnaire, blood test) at our hospital to avoid risk of infection.

Further information.

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