Three Rivers Birth Services

It’s the holiday season, and many of us are searching for ways to make these weeks more emotionally and spiritually fulfilling in our own way.  Often this comes in the form of selfless giving of our time, money or goods to those less fortunate than ourselves.  But what charitable organization do you pick?

If you are a breastfeeding mother, I may just have the organization for you.  Actually there are two you might look into:

Thanks to significant volunteer efforts over the last eight months, the first human milk bank has been created in the Northwest portion of the United States.  The Northwest Mothers’ Milk Bank in Portland, Oregon aims to meet the needs of families who could benefit from donor milk.  They collect, screen, process and deliver donated human milk to families who will benefit from it medically.  Common reasons for prescribing donor milk include: prematurity, allergies, feeding/formula intolerance, immunologic deficiencies, post-operative nutrition, infectious diseases and inborn problems of metabolism.  Demand far outweighs supply, so the sickest, most vulnerable infants have top priority for the milk.  We all know that “breast is best”, but when a true medical need for supplementation comes about for a sick child, breastmilk can make all the difference in the world.  They are still in the planning stages, but you can donate your milk through milk banks in Denver or California, or donate financially.

Speaking of sick children, breastmilk has been doing wonders for starving children in Africa.  The iThemba Lethu Breast Milk Bank in South Africa takes donations more pricless than gold – breastmilk that truly can save the lives of these young children.  iThemba is seed-funded by UNICEF and has a presence in Redmond, Washington.  Here is a great article about the milk bank and the difference they are making, and here is the iThemba Lethu breast milk bank website.

Now get pumping!