PREM milk bank is 2 years old

I’m not sure if they had an offical celebration, but the PREM human milk bank at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth recently turned 2 years old. finisterre.minti.com

Last year they held a first birthday party and invited all the babies who had benefitted from donated milk, including my daughter Talia. It was only a small gathering, but a big event for us as Talia was only 6 weeks corrected and I vary rarely took her further than a few blocks from our house at that point.

The Perth PREM Milk bank celebrates its first year

I was aware of the milk bank’s existence before Talia was born. I must have read about it when I visited KEMH for an antenatal appointment, and I remember thinking it would be nice to be able to donate milk to help other mothers. I had no idea that I would end up on the receiving end!

My milk came in very slowly, and without the assistance of medication would never have been enough to sustain a baby. However, before the medication kicked in, Talia’s requirements, minimal though they were, outstripped my feeble supply. One afternoon I received a call from the NICU asking if we would be prefer to use formula or donor milk. We had no hesitation in accepting donor milk, knowing it is much better for babies in almost any circumstance, and particularly when the baby has an immature gut. Talia received donor milk for about a week before my own supply caught up and I was able to take over myself.

I have read articles in magazines and online where women react to the idea of giving their milk to another baby (or having their baby drink another mother’s milk) with revulsion. However I can’t imagine they would respond that way if their own baby really needed that help.

The irony is that in the not-so-distant past, it was quite common for women to share their milk, without any worries about disease (which is carefully screened out in the donor milk bank). A lady I know, now in her 60s, told me that when one of her own children was just born she had abundant supply and would go to the hospital nursery and pump - and they would use her milk to feed all the babies in the nursery!  How times have changed.