Extra pumped milk, but on meds--would you donate?

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

Hi, I have a question I've been wrestling with for awhile and I hope the LLLadies can help me. I'm BF'ing my 5 month old son and am on Prozac for anxiety (which predates my pregnancy--I've been on it for almost 10 years). I'm doing great on the Prozac and am loving new motherhood, and as far as I can tell it seems to have zero effect on my son. My OB and pedi are both aware that I take Prozac and breastfeed and neither one expressed any concern. I work and pump and have a mild oversupply. I have a freezer full of milk that I pumped when my son was 2-3 months old, before I returned to work, that is going to 'expire' soon. I also have an excess of milk when I pump and usually end up throwing away 20-30 oz of milk a week (at least) because my son doesn't drink it and I have no more room in my freezer to freeze it.

Now, if I weren't on any meds, there would be an easy solution--donate my milk, either formally through a milkbank or informally through HMHB or EatsonFeet. Since I am on Prozac, though, I have been reluctant to donate my milk. As far as I can tell, a milk bank would probably not take my milk since I am on Prozac and that could be dangerous for an ill or premature baby. I think that some moms on the informal share sites might be interested though (of course I would disclose to them that I take Prozac). I'm torn on what to do. The last thing I want to do is harm another baby by providing milk that might be unsuitable for them, even though it has been perfectly fine for my full-term, healthy five-month-old. However, I also hate throwing so much milk down the drain and I keep thinking how good that milk could be for a baby whose mama can't make enough. A further complicating factor is that I do drink alcohol some evenings (a drink or two, and never within a few hours of pumping) and also take in a fair amount of caffeine during the day (in close proximity to pumping). These things have been fine for me and my baby but I know some mamas would worry about it.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Donate the milk informally, or keep throwing it away?

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

Well, whatever you do, you should disclose the medications you're on and any caffeine you're drinking, etc., to anyone you donate milk to. I think the milk banks have specific standards about what types of medications you can take and still donate milk, so I would check those out.

I had oversupply and ended up with a surplus of milk in my early months as well. So my real recommendation would be to start working on getting your supply a bit more under control (by pumping less) so that you are only pumping what your child drinks, and you can keep your stash for what it's good for - an emergency!

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

What kind of freezer do you have? It might not be as close as you think to expiring depending on which freezer you have.

Otherwise, donate with full disclosure.

and no, a milk bank won't take it. They won't take it if you take fenugreek even.

[@llli*lovemygirlso1]

I'm on Zoloft (Have been for 12 years) and asked Mother's Milk Foundation if I could donate and they said no. You can't be on ANY prescription medication and donate. I agree with JoMo about decreasing your amount of pumping so that you are only pumping what you baby needs. You may feel uncomfortably full for a couple weeks but that would be better than having to pump and then not using it. I can see mothers being fine with the Prozac and even the caffeine but not so much with the alcohol. Just from what I've heard. You could consider not drinking any if you want to donate. Or simply just asking mothers if they still want it even with that slight risk. It doesn't hurt to ask. I was pumping for a while because my sister in law was having a hard time keeping up with her twins demand and I was giving them my milk and they had no problem with it either. Unfortunately she has decided that formula is just easier and now I give a bit to my nephew, my sister nurses him when she is home but not at work and it's hard for her to pump at work so I just give him my milk when someone else babysits him or just nurse him when I watch him. Anyway, I was also told my MMF that milk can stay good in the freezer (main area, not the door) for 8 months.

[@llli*auderey]

A little alcohol is almost never a problem - it peaks in your blood (and therefore milk) around an hour after drinking. Disclose and donate through hm4hb!

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

@aprilsmagic--It's a refridgerator with the fridge part above and the freezer part below. The freezer pulls out like a drawer. It's pretty deep and the milk is in the bottom of the compartment. Does that mean it will keep longer than 3 months?

Thanks to everyone for their opinions. I don't really want to pump less, because I'm only pumping twice a day at work as it is and I'm afraid less would jeopardize my supply. I'm also concerned because I've heard that for many people, they have a drop in supply when the baby is around 9-10 months old, so I'm kind of happy to have a bit of an oversupply now as 'insurance' that I will still have enough later even if my supply drops some. At the moment, I produce 5-10 oz more per day than DS drinks, on average. The slight OS doesn't seem to be causing me or DS any issues. He nurses without problems and I haven't had any mastitis and minimal clogged ducts. So, for right now, I think the OS is actually a good thing.

I think I will get in touch with HMHB and see if anyone wants the milk, with full disclosure. I think it would be perfectly fine for a healthy, older infant, from what I've read about SSRI's. Thanks again to all for their input.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

No, that type of freezer is about 3 months, depending on how cold it is and how often you open it. Bummer.

[@llli*thtr4me]

You could go through a milksharing program to donate milk. I did this with DS1. I was on Paxil, and posted my available milk to Milk Share, with a detailed disclosure of what I was on and why. I had plenty of mamas willing to take my milk, even with me being on medication.