Outsourcing Breast Milk

The say breast milk is the perfect food for baby's mind and body. Studies show that children who nurse may be healthier and happier and, if they breast-feed for longer than seven months, have a higher IQ. Equally important, many believe, is the intense bond that develops between mother and child.

Which is one reason most American moms don't want to share the experience with anyone else. Yet wet-nursing (hiring a woman to breast-feed your baby), which most of the Western world abandoned in the 19th century, is making a minor comeback among young moms. So is cross-nursing, in which mothers breast-feed one another's babies. Both reflect several cultural trends: more U.S. babies--upwards of 70%--are breast-fed than at any time in at least 50 years, more women work outside the home, and more young women undergo breast surgery. Advocates argue that milk sharing lets women be good moms while fulfilling other goals. Says Natalia Chang, 29, who has cross-nursed with her San Jose, Calif., neighbor: Breast milk is "a communal commodity around here."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1612710,00.html



Somehow I can't agree with this. Not sure why, but I just can't. :confused:

There's a breast milk bank at the hospital I work at. I think it's a great idea to have free food for babies. Formula is so expensive and not nearly as nutritious.

Cows milk is for calfs
mothers milk is for babies
But outsourcing … can’t reconcile to the idea

That's okay. Its a personal thing. I breastfed both my girls, one until she was almost 2. I would even have donated milk if it were needed (I had excess like you wouldn't believe), and likely would have accepted donated milk myself, but even I still can't past the idea of someone else nursing my kid. Its just not part of our culture anymore. Go figure! :hmm: