Liquid Gold: New Breast Milk Documentary Promotes Human Milk Donation

Human milk banks are currently struggling to provide needy babies with enough donated breast milk. A new documentary from PRNewswire via COMTEX/Medela, Inc. in a partnership with King West Pictures and the Northwest Mothers Milk Bank (NWMMB) highlights the importance of breast milk and breast milk donation, especially for premature babies, announces a press release on Market Watch.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), children should be exclusively breastfed or fed only breast milk for the first six months of life. Breastfeeding or breast milk feeding should then continue for the first two years of life or beyond as mutually desired by the mother and the baby. Human breast milk is a nutritionally perfect for for human infants, providing all the nutrients necessary for healthy growth and development.

Although all babies benefit from breastfeeding, consuming human breast milk as opposed to formula is especially important for premature babies. According to the La Leche League International, human breast milk provides invaluable nutrients and immunities that cannot be duplicated in artificial milk. Premature babies who are breastfed are less likely to develop infections, many of which can be deadly for a preterm baby, than babies who are fed formula.

The new film from PRNewswire via COMTEX/Medela, which is entitled Donor Milk: The Documentary, highlights the benefits of donor breast milk for both premature babies as well as the pumping mothers who are donating the milk.

The benefits of human breast milk for preterm babies are widely established. However, donating breast milk can also be beneficial for the donating mothers. Screenwriter and filmmaker Kevin West and his wife, for example, were able to better cope with the loss of their baby by donating her pumped breast milk to sick and premature babies in need.

The creators of Donor Milk: The Documentary hope to spread the awareness about the importance of breast milk donation. Currently in the United States, only 11 human milk banks are designed to provide a baby with donated breast milk when a mother is unable to provide her own breast milk.

As Carolin Archibald, president of Medela, Inc., comments:

“Current milk banks cannot keep up with the demand for donor human milk for infants with compromised health. We applaud and support the efforts of the NWMMB to provide human milk for medical needs.”

The film will be shown on Wednesday, August 8, 2012, in Portland, OR, at the Hollywood Theatre at 7:00 p.m. and on Thursday, August 9, 2012, in Seattle, WA, at the Landmark Varsity Theatre at 7:00 p.m. For a $25 donation, interested individuals can view the film and attend a one-hour Q&A session featuring Kevin West and Jarred King, the directors of the film; June Winfield from the NWMMB; and a donor of breast milk and recipient of donor milk.

Do you think that this new documentary will raise awareness for the importance of human breast milk donation?