bf and donating plasma

I haven't been around here for ages, but I am still nursing 18 month old
DS2. At this point, he usually only nurses to go to sleep, usually only 3
times in a 24 hour period. He eats a fairly large solid diet, and while
we're far from ready to stop nursing, it does feel like it's more for
comfort now than nutrition. I nursed my other two until around age 2, so
that's what I'm figuring on with DS2.

Anyway, I tried to donate plasma a couple weeks ago, and after going through
a rigorous screening process and physical, the nurse was about to pass me
on, and suddenly thought to ask if I'm still bf'ing. And it turns out that
if you're bf'ing, you can't donate plasma. I know that you can donate blood
after 6 weeks postpartum, so it seems strange to me that plasma would be any
different. When I asked why, she said it was because of all the protein my
body is already giving out, but while I certainly wouldn't want to donate if
my baby were nursing as his/her primary source of sustenance, it seems like
by now, it wouldn't really be an issue. Plus, they check the blood for
protein and iron before you donate each time. Seems like that would show
them if there were a problem.

So I'm asking you experts, on whom I've relied so much in the past: what if
I lie, and tell them I've weaned? Is it really bad for me, my son, or my
plasma for me to donate while I'm nursing a toddler? Or is it just not worth
it? I don't want to put my son at risk . . . or myself, for that matter. I
just have a hard time believing it's such a big deal.

--
Jodi, sahm to
Oliver (6 years)
Arwen (4 years)
Milo (18 months)

Do you have to donate? Are you donating for someone in particular and that
is why you feel you have to lie? I know donating blood/plasma is extremely
important, but if you are just donating because you want to, then I would
not lie. They have rules for a reason. For me, I just wouldn't bother
donating right now and wait until I wasn't nursing.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"hobbes" wrote in message
...
I haven't been around here for ages, but I am still nursing 18 month old
DS2. At this point, he usually only nurses to go to sleep, usually only 3
times in a 24 hour period. He eats a fairly large solid diet, and while
we're far from ready to stop nursing, it does feel like it's more for
comfort now than nutrition. I nursed my other two until around age 2, so
that's what I'm figuring on with DS2.

Anyway, I tried to donate plasma a couple weeks ago, and after going
through a rigorous screening process and physical, the nurse was about to
pass me on, and suddenly thought to ask if I'm still bf'ing. And it turns
out that if you're bf'ing, you can't donate plasma. I know that you can
donate blood after 6 weeks postpartum, so it seems strange to me that
plasma would be any different. When I asked why, she said it was because
of all the protein my body is already giving out, but while I certainly
wouldn't want to donate if my baby were nursing as his/her primary source
of sustenance, it seems like by now, it wouldn't really be an issue. Plus,
they check the blood for protein and iron before you donate each time.
Seems like that would show them if there were a problem.

So I'm asking you experts, on whom I've relied so much in the past: what
if I lie, and tell them I've weaned? Is it really bad for me, my son, or
my plasma for me to donate while I'm nursing a toddler? Or is it just not
worth it? I don't want to put my son at risk . . . or myself, for that
matter. I just have a hard time believing it's such a big deal.

--
Jodi, sahm to
Oliver (6 years)
Arwen (4 years)
Milo (18 months)

hobbes wrote:

I haven't been around here for ages, but I am still nursing 18 month old
DS2. [...] the nurse was about to pass me
on, and suddenly thought to ask if I'm still bf'ing. And it turns out that
if you're bf'ing, you can't donate plasma.

I don't understand why the rules are so stringent
on this one! Especially since at 18 months,
breastmilk is not the primary food for the child.

However, I would not recommend lying to be able
to donate. I had this situation come up when I
tried to donate my extra breasmilk. The milk bank
would not take it because I had lived in South
Africa before 1978. Well, sheesh, I would know
by now, 30 years later, if I had AIDS/HIV, right?

I considered lying, but then I thought, what if
another mother really did have HIV and lied?

There is plenty of time for you to donate plasma
and blood after you wean your son completely.
For now, your contribution to the world is by
taking care of your son.

-- Anita --

Irrational Number wrote:
what if another mother really did have HIV and lied?

In the USA, the blood donor questionaire is for pre-screening. Blood
and serum donations are tested before use for some strains of HIV,
among others. The testing is expensive. Pre-screening eliminates
some unusable donations along with many usable ones.

Here is some relevant information:
http://patients.uptodate.com/topic.a...=transfus/8463

Pologirl

In article ,
"hobbes" wrote:

Anyway, I tried to donate plasma a couple weeks ago, and after going through
a rigorous screening process and physical, the nurse was about to pass me
on, and suddenly thought to ask if I'm still bf'ing. And it turns out that
if you're bf'ing, you can't donate plasma. I know that you can donate blood
after 6 weeks postpartum, so it seems strange to me that plasma would be any
different.

In Australia, when I last checked, they don't accept BFing women as candidates
for blood donation either. I presume it is on the basis that BFing is taxing
enough on a woman's system without removing such a substantial amount of fluid
and Good Stuff from it as well.

I doubt very much that you would do yourself or your child harm from donating
blood or plasma at this stage, but I can also see why the blood bank would
prefer to be conservative. They have enough people passing out as it is!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/

In Australia, when I last checked, they don't accept BFing women as candidates
for blood donation either. I presume it is on the basis that BFing is taxing
enough on a woman's system without removing such a substantial amount of fluid
and Good Stuff from it as well.

Also with the proviso of "last time I checked", in the UK it was that
you weren't allowed to donate until 9 months after giving birth,
regardless of whether you were breastfeeding or not.

I've gone and done it twice, I found it really wiped me out, maybe I was
being selfish, but not being able to cycle up the hill to where I lived
for several days wasn't very conducive to donating. Now I'm in the US,
they won't take blood from anyone lived in the UK during the BSE crisis,
so it's a non issue. Both my husband and I would like to be organ donors
if we were killed, but I don't know if the same rules apply to organ
donation, with the shortage of donor organs, I'd hope they'd be able to
use something.

Cheers
Anne

"Sue" wrote in message
news:Au6dncwv6pZSDL3anZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...
Do you have to donate? Are you donating for someone in particular and that
is why you feel you have to lie? I know donating blood/plasma is extremely
important, but if you are just donating because you want to, then I would
not lie. They have rules for a reason. For me, I just wouldn't bother
donating right now and wait until I wasn't nursing.


Nah, I don't have a good reason for lying, and I was really only playing
around with the idea, not seriously considering it. I just think they've
created a blanket rule without considering the difference between nursing an
infant for whom the bm is a vital part of the diet and a toddler who does it
mostly for comfort. I'm trying to figure out the real reasoning behind
it--but I think it may be related to what Anne was saying with how wiped out
she was after donating blood. Though, again, I think my case would be
different.

The only reason I want to donate is for the $$. So it's completely shallow,
and though I play with the idea, I can't see myself lying just for some
extra cash. But things are really tight right now, and I was hoping for some
money to buy some things I'd really like for the house. It's not a big deal;
just wondering what the issue was.

Jodi

Jodi "hobbes" wrote:
The only reason I want to donate is for the $$.

That's not donating; that is selling your plasma. Commercial human
plasma collection centers keep a low profile these days, after the
national scandal over their contribution to Hepatitis C and HIV
infections and deaths in the recipients commercial blood products.

How much do they pay you nowadays for a unit of plasma?

Pologirl

On Oct 28, 6:16 am, "hobbes" wrote:
"Sue" wrote in message

news:Au6dncwv6pZSDL3anZ2dnUVZ_gmdnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...

Do you have to donate? Are you donating for someone in particular and that
is why you feel you have to lie? I know donating blood/plasma is extremely
important, but if you are just donating because you want to, then I would
not lie. They have rules for a reason. For me, I just wouldn't bother
donating right now and wait until I wasn't nursing.

Nah, I don't have a good reason for lying, and I was really only playing
around with the idea, not seriously considering it. I just think they've
created a blanket rule without considering the difference between nursing an
infant for whom the bm is a vital part of the diet and a toddler who does it
mostly for comfort. I'm trying to figure out the real reasoning behind
it--but I think it may be related to what Anne was saying with how wiped out
she was after donating blood. Though, again, I think my case would be
different.

Generally speaking they make these rules pretty conservative, because
sooner or later someone will screw it up if they leave a lot of room
for judgement. Just exactly how many feeds a day is OK? What if
they're all short feeds? What if the baby is 11 months? 9 months?
What if mom is both breast and formula feeding, how much of each is
OK? From the point of view of the plasma center it's much safer and
probably has an unmeasurable impact on their number of donors to
simply exclude all nursing mothers. The amount of staff time and
money involved with coming up with a safe set of rules about when it's
OK for breastfeeding mothers to donate would probably not be justified
by how many donors they'd get from it.

Kate, ignorant foot soldier of the medical cartel
and the Bug, 4 years old
and something brewing, 4/08

"Pologirl" wrote in message
oups.com...
Jodi "hobbes" wrote:
The only reason I want to donate is for the $$.

That's not donating; that is selling your plasma.

ha. Good point.

How much do they pay you nowadays for a unit of plasma?

$25 for the first donation; $35 for the second if done within 7 days of the
first donation. So there's a potential for earning approx. $200 a month
doing it.

Jodi