Photo by USAID_IMAGES via Flickr
Since having my baby, there’s a few things I’ve wanted to do to be a better person, and I’m ashamed to say how few of them I’ve gotten to. One that I’d love to have done, second to donating cord blood, is nursing for a milk bank.
But let’s face it, that requires three things, some more doable then others:
1) A sufficient supply
2) The right equipment
3) Time and a serious A-type personality
And point 3, my friends, is where I’m lacking. I love cookies, just bought my better half a deluxe cookie press, but I still can’t commit to a dozen for a charitable bake sale.
Enter the Emergency Relief Milk Program. That’s a cause I can get behind. A limited commitment, then I can be back to my willy-nilly ways. (Granted I’m not sure my milk is still good enough or sufficient. These are the requirements.) If you’re the type who can handle processing regularly in a properly controlled fashion, here’s a list of milk bank locations. Good news: One soon to come to Toronto. But even if you live in a city without a bank, most will still facilitate the collection of your milk.)
Is this something you’d be willing to try? Let’s milk it for Haiti.
“Where it is not possible for the biological mother to breastfeed, the first alternative, if available, should be the use of human breast milk from other sources. Human milk banks should be made available in appropriate situations.”
World Health Organization/United Nations Children’s Fund
