Welcome to the World Breastfeeding 2013 Blog Carnival cohosted by NursingFreedom.org and The San Diego Breastfeeding Center!
This post was written for inclusion in the WBW 2013 Blog Carnival. Our participants will be writing and sharing their stories about community support and normalizing breastfeeding all week long. Find more participating sites in the list at the bottom of this post or at the main carnival page.
In an effort to demystify milk sharing, for the next few weeks we will be sharing stories from breastfeeding moms who either donated their excess breastmilk or supplemented their baby with someone else’s milk. For more information about milk sharing, both informal and through milk banks, please visit our article: Supplement Options: Donor Milk, Milk Banks, and Formula, as well as our Boob Group podcast episode, Low Milk Supply: Donor Milk, Milk Banks, and Formula.
Today on the San Diego Breastfeeding Center blog, I am honored to share Cara's story, which demonstrates how a sense of community can blossom through supplementing with and donating breast milk. If you would like to submit your story to be shared with our readers, please email me at robinkaplan@sdbfc.com. Thank you so much, Cara, for sharing your inspiring story with us! Your daughter is so lucky to have you as her mother!
In an effort to demystify milk sharing, for the next few weeks we will be sharing stories from breastfeeding moms who either donated their excess breastmilk or supplemented their baby with someone else’s milk. For more information about milk sharing, both informal and through milk banks, please visit our article: Supplement Options: Donor Milk, Milk Banks, and Formula, as well as our Boob Group podcast episode, Low Milk Supply: Donor Milk, Milk Banks, and Formula.
Today on the San Diego Breastfeeding Center blog, I am honored to share Christine McCarty's story about how she mustered up the courage to ask a friend for extra breastmilk for her baby. If you would like to submit your story to be shared with our readers, please email me at robinkaplan@sdbfc.com. Thank you so much, Christine, for sharing your inspiring story with us!
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My story starts several months ago, when my daughter was about 5 months. I have a friend who has Raynaud's disease and pumps constantly to continue to give her son the best nutrition she can. We were having a conversation about breastfeeding (as most of our conversations are about, lol) and she mentioned she produced 80-120oz PER DAY! A few weeks later I was off to see my favorite IBCLC frantic and in tears because for 2 days I had only pumped 1.5oz (from both breasts total, not individually) per pumping session at work. I remember hugging my lactation consultant, crying in her shoulder, telling her "I'm losing it, I'm losing my daughter's lifeline, I'm such a poor mom, I just can't keep up." After much reassurance, we got back on the right track, but I still had the issue that my production hadn't gotten back up to speed for the next day I had to go to work.
This past week, we released one of my most favorite episodes on The Boob Group: Low Milk Supply: Donor Milk, Milk Banks, and Formula. I had the esteemed pleasure of interviewing Amber McCann, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, fierce supporter of all things mothering, and dear friend. I wanted to know what options were out there for mothers who needed to supplement their babies, as well as the pros and cons of each.
I pulled out the most salient points for this blog article, but you can click here to listen to the Boob Group episode in its entirety: Low Milk Supply: Donor Milk, Milk Banks, and Formula.
What are your options if you need to supplement your baby?
When feeding an infant, the World Health Organization lists a hierarchy: