Banking Your Boobage

Working mothers are outsourcing their breastmilk to total strangers on Facebook. So not only will they not stay home with the kids, they won’t pump themselves, and now they won’t bother to have the lactic libations screened for disease and drugs.

From CBS here:

Jessica Elways believes in the benefits of breast milk for her seven month old daughter Penelope, but keeping a steady supply hasn’t been easy.

“I work 45 to 50 hours a week. My supply started to dip, and since I work in retail I can’t pump as much during the day,” she said.

She needed something other mothers have and turned to the Facebook site “Eats on Feets” to find it. Mothers like Jocelyn Tremblay who are willing to donate their breast milk.

The Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England, based in Newton said “There are times when moms can be transmitting things to babies they don’t even know about,” said Executive Director Naomi Bar-Yam. The milk bank screens and processes breast milk for distribution to needy babies for $4.25 an ounce.

Unlike a milk bank, “Eats on Feets” is an exchange with no regulations and no fee. Jessica Elways doesn’t mind the risk. “I think breast milk has the most benefits, they get the antibodies they need,” she said. It’s a mother-to-mother bond that’s based on trust.

If you breastfeed for the first few weeks the baby gets all of her antibodies she will need. There is a reason women begin to dry up at 6 months- the child’s dietary needs begin to change. Feeding your kid a stranger’s milk is dangerous and gross and absolutely unnecessary. If she’s too poor to afford formula she can sign up for public assistance that will provide the milk the baby needs.

Thanks to Robb, who must have a google alert setup for things like “boobs in the news.” His suggestion was to get in early on the ‘wimmin milkin’ bidness.’