
Breast Milk Becomes a Commodity, with Mothers Caught Up in Debate - r0h1n
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/business/breast-milk-products-commercialization.html
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sii
This is interesting. For comparison, in Sweden you donate (sell) milk directly
to hospitals where it is handled locally and given to prematurely born
children in the hospital.

The prices are set locally by each hospital but is currently at around $20-30
usd / liter, and has been raised a number of times over the last 10 years to
encourage more people to donate milk. Hospitals buy milk from each other when
necessary for somewhere around $100 per liter.

Donated milk is usually only accepted for the first three months after the
donating mothers child was born. All equipment (pumps, bottles etc.) are
provided by the hospital.

That said, I would encourage as many people as possible to donate milk, it
makes a huge difference for those tiny prematurely born babies.

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beagle3
I've heard stories of ultra-expensive breastmilk that is mixed from many
donors - it supposedly gives the newborn antibodies from all those moms
(expressed in the breastmilk - that's where babies get their antibodies until
their own immune systems kick in). Does anyone have more info?

There's a similar concept for general antibody donation, which is given to the
immune compromised, called intravenous immuno-globulin (IVIG)[0], which is
extremely effective at modulating the immune system and enhancing immunity.
Basically, they take blood donations, purify only (some) antibodies, and mix
some 10,000 donors so that the resulting donation is well-rounded in its
contents.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin)

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littletimmy
Is this a market now wholly because the United States has shit maternity leave
laws, or would it be a market without it as well?

For some cultures, there has been an employment category called "wet nurses"
whose entire job was to look after an infant and breastfeed it as a mother
would. Perhaps as society becomes more an more unequal, we'll see a resurgence
of wet nurses for rich infants.

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rayiner
We outsource almost everything women would, in earlier times, have had to stay
home and do (cleaning, childcare, laundry, drycleaning, grocery shopping), so
why not milk production as well? I know the process of feeding your infant is
very fulfilling, but I've never heard anyone who liked the actual lactating
part, which is pretty miserable.

~~~
smokey_the_bear
Pumping isn't great, but actually nursing a baby can be wonderful. It releases
hormones, and is generally very relaxing for me if my baby is calm.

~~~
tomjen3
I imagine there is an evolutionary reason for that - but at the same time (if
you don't mind me asking) how often is the baby calm?

~~~
smokey_the_bear
Both of mine have generally been calm. Nursing changes a lot as they get
older, mine usually weren't interested in nursing when they've just eaten a
lot of solids, or if there are distractions around, and being overtired is a
whole other beast.

I'd say now with my second baby, at 11 months, 90% of the bedtime and morning
nursings are pleasant bonding experiences, and half of the daytime ones.

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Iftheshoefits
There are a lot of women who would prefer to breastfeed but can't for a
variety of physiological reasons, so this market would at least have the
potential to exist even if America's maternity leave laws weren't barbaric.

~~~
bluedevil2k
Aren't you projecting your European biases and beliefs on our American system.
Who's to say your system is right, and our system is wrong? Europe takes a
different approach to labor and economics than the United States. You may love
large socialist structures in Europe, but you trade that off with a slow-
growing economy. In the US, we have a smaller socialist structure with fewer
safety nets, but we get a faster growing and robust economy. There's no right
or wrong.

~~~
DanBC
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

> Please avoid introducing classic flamewar topics unless you have something
> genuinely new to say about them.

~~~
colmvp
The rebuttal wouldn't have had been posted if the original comment not been a
histrionic observation.

