American mothers send breast milk to Africa to help keep babies HIV-free

[Bluebear]

Truly, some people are still giving and ingenious, aren't they?


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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- After finally accepting that her son had a protein allergy that kept him from taking her breast milk, Ruth Weinberger faced another issue: What to do with the three months' supply in her freezer? She knew that the vitamins and nutrients in breast milk boost a baby's immune system. So the Broward County mother began searching for a place to donate it.

In Europe and her native South Africa, human milk is banked to feed orphans and premature babies whose mothers may either be too sick or cannot produce milk to feed them. But clinics in South Florida wouldn't accept it. "I was sad that he couldn't take it, but I would have been sadder if no one could take it," said Weinberger, 41, of Fort Lauderdale.

After weeks of online research, Weinberger found a pioneering group that ships the milk of American mothers to feed babies in Africa and reduce the risk of HIV infection in newborns.

The International Breast Milk Project, the brainchild of a Minnesota mom, has shipped roughly 10,000 ounces of milk to South Africa in the past year. It feeds infants whose mothers have HIV, which can be transmitted through breast milk, and those who live in areas where water is too dirty to mix with powdered formula.

Weinberger, who estimates she shipped about 1,000 ounces, is among about 100 mothers across the United States who have contributed. Another 500 have asked about donating. One Tampa mother has produced 1,000 ounces and continues stockpiling 10 ounces every day after feeding her daughter.

The group's founder, Jill Youse, 29, is discussing a plan to ship milk to an infant feeding center in Haiti.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/APN/703171204

[Lex]

1. Thank you for posting this, Bluebear.

I need to hear some stories like this sometimes so I don't lose all faith in goodness and selflessness.

[Bluebear]

3. Oh, me too, honey...

Sometimes you really have to scour for them, but they are there, and it convinces me there is still goodness and hope out there.

[BlooInBloo]

6. lol! "selfless" in the most literal sense possible. :)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. What a perfectly wonderful thing for her to do!

I am continually astonished and pleased that some people care so much ...

She is literally saving lives........

Lives that would otherwise have been lost...

Lives that could make a huge difference in South Africa, and other places where HIV is rampant....

K&R

:patriot:

[Kurovski]

11. It reminds me of the scene in "Grapes of Wrath."

when Rose-of-Sharon feeds a dying man.

Very different situation, but overwhelming and beautiful in a similar way.

Literally, the milk of human kindness.

[Lex]

4. Kicked and Recommended.

:kick:

[catchnrelease]

5. A letter in Women's Health magazine

this month (March) from the founder Jill Youse, says that after an article on the milk bank in the December issue, she not only received hundreds of interested emails, but an anonymous donation for $28,000 ! To be used for a milk bank expansion at the orphan clinic in South Africa, and the start of two new banks in Cameroon. Pretty cool to think what one womans idea turned into.

[nam78_two]

7. Nice

K&R :)

[Hekate]

8. That's incredibly touching. KnR.

[The Doctor.]

9. That absolutely 'rocks'.

This is more than the consideration of resources, this is the epitome of compassion without compunction.

[libnnc]

10. Fantastic story

Wow. It's just beautiful. :thumbsup:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

12. One of the nicest things I've read in a long time Blue..

Bless those women and their organizations for doing this.


:hi: :pals: