Relactation

I am a firm believer in human milk as the biologically normal way to feed infants. In my lactopian world almost all women choose to breastfeed, they have the support systems in place to succeed, and women who are unable to breastfeed have easy, affordable, safe access to donated human milk. I have been sharing my vision with other lactation -minded people for some time. I have encouraged other women to donate their breastmilk to human milk banks. But, I have yet to "put my money where my mouth is", so to speak. So, I have decided to try to relactate for the purpose of donating my milk.

Today is day one of my attempt to relactate. My expectations are mixed. My early attempts will be simple stimulation with a Pump In Style, 15 minutes every 3 hours or so. I pumped for the first time ever with a quality, electric, double pump this afternoon and got 2 drops of...something. I guess it could be considered colostrum as it was yellowish and sticky, but I've only ever though of colostrum as it relates to being produced during pregnancy and the early days post partum. By my third pumping of the day, I expressed 2 drops from one side and several from the other side.

The pumping experience itself was different than I expected. When I was nursing I used a manual Avent pump to pump an occasional bottle for my boys. I've given countless mothers pumping tips and info, but never actually experienced much of it myself. The power of the suction surprised me. For the first time I understand why a different sized flange can make such a big difference in how much milk a mother can pump. I can understand the confusion about how a baby sucks vs. how a pump removes milk. I can understand both why a pump would be more comfortable than a baby and how a pump could cause damage to the breast tissues.

This project will hopefull give me a deeper understanding and greater ability to help mothers who choose to exclusively pump and more experience to draw from when offering help to mothers returning to work. It will also, hopefully, raise awarnes of human milk banks and milk donation. With a little luck and persistance, it will also provide a baby or two with much desired human milk.