Will donating breast milk help Haitian infants?

Dorling Kindersley/Getty

Breast pump, close up.

This week several organizations, including the International Breast Milk Project, issued a call for human milk donations for infants in Haiti, as the U.S. Navy ship Comfort is equipped with a neonatal intensive care unit that can transport the breast milk. Yet, while nursing mothers have heeded the call, and some 500 ounces of donated breast milk have already been sent to Haiti by joint efforts of the International Breast Milk Project and the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, a joint statement issued by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations World Food Programme suggests that, at this point, the necessary infrastructure isn’t yet in place for those well-meaning donations to truly make a difference. To learn more about the best way to help babies struggling to survive in the wake of the Haiti disaster, TIME spoke with Dr. Nune Mangasaryan, senior adviser on infant nutrition for UNICEF.

TIME: While the joint statement indicates the value of breast-feeding infants during the first six months of life, it also clarifies that, currently, the infrastructure isn’t in place for human milk donations to get to those infants in need. From the statement:

“Human milk donations while safe when processed and pasteurized in a human milk bank also require fully functioning cold chains. Such conditions are not currently met in Haiti and human milk donations cannot be used at present.”

Dr. Mangasaryan: At this point it’s not the recommended way of assisting Haiti. The reason for saying this, is that the systems needed to transport [breast milk] and to deliver it in the country, are not ready at this point. You have to have quite a significant number of freezers, you have to have electricity, and you have to be able to transport it from one part of the country to another. [With the current level of devastation] at this point, donating breast milk isn’t preferable.

TIME: Could that policy change in the future?

Dr. Mangasaryan: This doesn’t mean that in general, donated breast milk isn’t good. In the future, maybe after a few months, we can think about whether the institutions, orphanages, etc, are ready to accept [breast milk donations], but at this point we are doubtful.

TIME: For orphans, or babies separated from their mothers, what is recommended, if not breast milk donations at this point?

Dr. Mangasaryan: At this point what we recommend for them is ready-to-use infant formula, that’s already in a liquid form, meaning no risk of contamination by mixing powdered formula with water, for example. It’s already ready-to-use, and there are certain numbers already available in the country.

TIME: The joint statement deters people from trying to send formula directly to Haiti. From the statement:

In accordance with internationally accepted guidelines, donations of infant formula, bottles and teats and other powdered or liquid milk and milk products should not be made. Experience with past emergencies has shown an excessive quantity of products, which are poorly targeted, endangering infants’ lives. Any procurement of breast milk substitutes should be based on careful needs assessment and in coordination with UNICEF.

What is the best way to contribute to the nutritional needs of children and nursing mothers in Haiti?

Dr. Mangasaryan: Try to provide financial funding and support to agencies that are working on the ground. We have at this point, not only UNICEF, but a nutrition cluster working in Haiti, proactively working on the ground to make sure that all of this support comes to mothers and babies. These agencies are skilled, they know the job, they know what to do. The best is just to help them.

TIME: How will we know when the infrastructure is in place and breast milk donations can get to the infants who need them?

Dr. Mangasaryan: I would just say that this matter has to be revisited sometime later on, and it definitely this has to come from Haiti, from the specialists on the ground. We really need to look at them and see what are the best methods at this point. I know that there are organizations that are trying to help with breast milk in Haiti, and there are mothers who are ready to donate. It’s all done out of goodwill, but we really have to take into consideration current conditions.

http://pregnancyandbaby.sheknows.com/blog/pregnancy-news/breast-milk-donations-not-needed-in-haiti/ Breast milk donations NOT needed in Haiti! | Pregnancy & Baby Blog

[...] more about why breast milk is not a useful donation at this [...]
http://www.blisstree.com/breastfeeding123/breast-milk-donation-backlash-in-haiti/ Breast Milk Donation Backlash in Haiti : Breastfeeding 1-2-3 – Breastfeeding 1-2-3: A Blog for Breastfeeding Tips and Support

[...] Leave a Comment tweetcount_url=''; tweetcount_title='';tweetcount_src='RT @blisstree:';tweetcount_via=false;tweetcount_background='';tweetcount_border='';tweetcount_text='';tweetcount_api_key='dcd0cbf084952aa806a7103c2609645942026abc5194e9819c425abe9a39da8d';The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) reportedly has been asked to retract its urgent call for breast milk donations for premature infants in Haiti. The Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) says the donations contradict best practices for babies in emergencies and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) said the donations create an “unfeasible and unsafe intervention” due to problems of transportation, screening, supply and storage, according to the MSNBC article “Call for Donations of Breast Milk in Haiti Goes Bust.” Time also asks “Will Donating Breast Milk Help Haitian infants?” [...]
http://sonja711.wordpress.com sonja711

I am a firm believer in breast milk, but in this instance I would have to question any one who thinks its a good idea to send milk that needs so much just to transport it. Formula works and in a disaster like the one they have in Haiti, please lets use our heads instead of our agenda.
lisadougla

i have to agree with the previous post regarding why anyone would think it was a good idea to send milk to a disaster zone that can barely accommodate military transport of food and water. i agree that these organizations like HMBANA and International Breast Milk Project may have put their agenda before common sense. In fact, i would be interested in those two organizations showing transparency about how much milk they collected as a result of this “urgent call for milk” – especially after organizations such as WHO and UNICEF requested that they retract their press release issuing an “urgent call” for milk. many women donated under those pretenses, so i would like to know how much IBMP and HMBANA collected? if not all of the milk collected was sent to Haiti, what was done with all of the milk and are they selling or making ANY money from any of the milk collected????
both organizations had different information about their “partnership” on their respective websites, which leads me to believe that this was all a scam to make money. i don’t like to be pessimistic, but not even the NICU aboard the Comfort ship is using the little amount of milk they sent because of safety concerns. i think this says a lot about IBMP and HMBANA.
http://penelopemc.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/e-z-charity/ E-Z charity « penelope m. c.

[...] as of late. First, is all of the efforts to send used things to Haiti: used shoes, used yoga mats, breast milk, infant formula, blankets, used shoes, and more used shoes. I don’t understand why so many [...]
http://goodintentionsarenotenough.com/2010/02/interesting-articles-posts-and-guidelines-from-late-jan-and-early-feb-2010/ Good Intentions Are Not Enough » Blog Archive » Interesting articles, posts, and guidelines from late Jan and early Feb 2010

[...] Will donating breast milk help Haitian orphans – CNN – Looks at the current movement to lactating mothers to donate breast milk to Haiti and the problems this could create. Another articles on this same topic is Call for breast milk donations in Haiti goes bust – MSNBC [...]