why is donating blood considered a good thing but...?

I think donating breastmilk is wonderful - a day's worth of DBM gave me and my son the breathing-space we needed to get breastfeeding established, when my milk hadn't come in, he was having huge problems latching, and his blood sugar was so low he was shaking.

Some people are just funny about breasts.

Edit: I _don't_ think they should be paid for it any more than they are paid for blood (in the UK at least). The last thing anyone needs is for a donor to hide that they've taken medication or are unwell because it will cost them money.

That's universal I look at people who donate blood in disgust. There are so many new technologies out there that doctors have proclaimed that works better than whole blood and is safer so to keep doing it the stone age way is a thing in the past plus the bible said don't partake in blood. I think donating breast milk sounds disgusting but is more beneficial and clean. I heard a story not to long ago on a father that was dying of something and his daughter that just gave birth to her son started to freeze her milk for her father and he would water her breat milk down with cow milk and months later he was cured by her breast milk.

Most people don't know you can donate breastmilk.

Even so, it's probably thought more similar to donating sperm than it is blood. Simply because breasts are strictly sex in the Western world. Sexual organs emit sexual fluids and feeding a baby, especially somebody elses baby, that fluid is weird.

My best guess anyway. I see it as just as much a good deed as donating blood. Donated breastmilk saves lives too (disaster areas are a perfect example. Formula is dangerous when there is no clean water. An area recently hit by a devastating natural force lacks that resource. Using formula in such an area is a death sentence for an infant), some people just don't grasp that or even think about it.

I do know a few women who have donated and I applaud them. So as far as I know, does anyone else who knows about it. Maybe it;s the area I live in but the donation of breastmilk here isn't a weird of gross thing to most people.

To be honest, it wouldn't have occurred to me that anyone would consider donating milk to be a bad thing. I don't see it any differently to donating blood. If I was a new mother and for whatever reason, unable to feed my child for the first few days of its life, I'd be incredibly grateful to be able to give it donated breast milk rather than having to rely on formula.

I really, really can't see the difference and I think that people who have a problem with the idea are just irrational and letting silly cultural reactions and illogical squeamishness get in the way of hard facts.

I don't think people should actually be paid to donate breast milk - blood donors and bone marrow donors don't get paid, and I think when you start paying people for bodily substances like that, it starts to become exploitative - but I do think that the service should be much more heavily promoted and championed. It was only when a friend of mine happened to mention it to me when she had her first baby that I even knew it existed. It should be talked about and promoted much more, so it becomes less of a taboo for people and becomes something normal.

I think donating blood and donating breast milk are both great things.

Many NICUs use breastmilk, preferably from the mother but occasionally from banks, because for preemies it is ESSENTIAL.

I think most people are just ignorant about the issue, in the truest definition of the word. I once had a discussion about this topic with someone who considered it disgusting to feed a baby milk not from his mother- yet, we drink and feed our children (most formulas are milk based) milk from a COW! That person also thinks goats milk, etc. is gross- somehow milk from a COW is acceptable, but other mammals is not (the only reason we drink COWS milk is because they can produce so much of it, and are readily available).

In all honesty, I was unaware that you were able to donate breast milk. So I feel that the reactions are coming from the fact that most people are probably unfamiliar with it. HOWEVER, under the assumption that in order to donate breast milk you get screened similar to the way you do to donate blood (to rule out infections, disease or other complications) then I absolutely see no problem with it whatsoever and in no way would think negatively of a women who chose to do so.

I've never heard of anyone expressing disgust over the thought of donating breast milk. If you got such replies here, it's probably from younger posters or the completely uninformed.

Kudos to you for taking some time out of your day to help babies :)

I have no idea why it bothers some people.

When I hear of people donating breast milk I think they are very generous and kind. However, I do think they should get the option of getting paid for it if they choose to. As it takes time and money to create that breast milk, so some compensation should be given.

blood is a life saving thing basically. You'd be saving a life by donating potentially. But breastmilk technically isn't necessary as they have formula as a substitute. I really wouldn't be grossed out by a woman donating her milk. It's a nice thing to do and works for some. to each their own.

**yes formula has stories where it's bad, but people have also gotten diseases and died from blood transfusions....everything can have a bad side for sure. Breastmilk did not save my life as I was a formula fed baby. And lets see......yep still have a pulse :) Unfortunately you can't make that claim as there isn't anything to really back it. Just realize that some people are grossed out by breastmilk. It has some weird stigmatism attached to it because formula became so mainstream and seeing a boob is way more riskay than seeing someones arm with their vein. I'm just trying to explain why some people feel that way, though again personally I think donanting breastmilk is a good thing.

** I must say I'm curious why the thumbs down. I'm genuinely interested in hearing research or claims that can truly be backed scientifically how breastmilk would save a life. Unfortunately we cannot make that claim. Example one baby may not be breastfed and gets cancer later in life....some may claim if they were breastfed that would have saved their life and made them more healthy.....but then there are those who were breastfed who also develope cancer. So again, too much going on there to say anything for sure.

Blame it on Nestle.