October 03, 2005

Mother’s milk by mail: USAF Staff sgt. ships frozen milk to infant

By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer

Her baby may be more than 1,500 miles away, but Air Force Staff Sgt. Mariah LeBlanc still manages to breast-feed — by shipping her milk from Texas to Delaware.

Three times a day — morning, lunch and evening — she pumps breast milk for 8-month-old Eliza, puts it in special freezer bags, and stores it in her room at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, where she is about halfway through a four-month retraining stint as an X-ray technician.

When she collects enough, she ships it back to Dover, Del., in an ice chest.

The logistics of pumping, freezing and shipping the milk are such that not every mother can do it.

“I don’t think it’s very common, partly because women with young babies are not often separated from their babies,” said Ruth Lawrence, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.

“But it’s a very worthwhile thing to do. When we talk about doing the best thing for your baby, she certainly is the epitome of that,” Lawrence said.

In many places, it would be more difficult, she said, though not impossible. The issue is getting a freezer with a reliable power supply and the capacity to store the breast milk.

In addition, overnight shipping capability varies by location. The milk must be frozen and stay frozen in transit to keep from spoiling.

In the case of mothers who are deployed overseas, shipping milk — or any perishable item — is not allowed from some countries because of customs requirements and other issues.

LeBlanc is helped by her husband, Mark, a stay-at-home dad who cares for their two children and is there to receive shipments and put them directly into the freezer.

Lawrence said the general recommendation is for mothers to breast-feed their babies for a year, but the first few months are the most important for gaining the benefit of mothers’ milk.

“As long as she can do it, … every day she sends her milk is one more good thing she’s doing for her baby,” Lawrence said.

For information about the storage and handling of breast milk, see the Centers for Disease Control Web site at: www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations.

Again with no pics...

Bump for the day crew

I would have just got formula.  That seems a little excessive.

Quoted: I would have just got formula.  That seems a little excessive.

Nothing beats mother's milk.  Nothing.  Especially not soy mixes.

Quoted: Quoted: I would have just got formula.  That seems a little excessive. Nothing beats mother's milk.  Nothing.  Especially not soy mixes.

I think its more important to actually have a mother than it is to have her milk.  This is rediculous.  The woman is being harold for the sacrifice she's making for her baby.  Have a baby?  RAISE IT!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I would have just got formula.  That seems a little excessive. Nothing beats mother's milk.  Nothing.  Especially not soy mixes. I think its more important to actually have a mother than it is to have her milk.  This is rediculous.  The woman is being harold for the sacrifice she's making for her baby.  Have a baby?  RAISE IT!

"where she is about halfway through a four-month retraining stint as an X-ray technician."

And we need soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.
I may have problem with women in most combat roles, but not in the medical field.  The military needs medical personal desperately, just like in civilian life.  Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices.  And four months is not going to destroy the mother-child relationship.  She will regret missing those four months, sure.  But she (and we) won't regret her service and training.

Quoted: I think its more important to actually have a mother than it is to have her milk.  This is rediculous.  The woman is being harold for the sacrifice she's making for her baby.  Have a baby?  RAISE IT!

WTF?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I would have just got formula.  That seems a little excessive. Nothing beats mother's milk.  Nothing.  Especially not soy mixes. I think its more important to actually have a mother than it is to have her milk.  This is rediculous.  The woman is being harold for the sacrifice she's making for her baby.  Have a baby?  RAISE IT!

+1

....errr, no that should be +2  

Quoted: Quoted: I think its more important to actually have a mother than it is to have her milk.  This is rediculous.  The woman is being harold for the sacrifice she's making for her baby.  Have a baby?  RAISE IT! WTF?

My hat and heart goes out to the men and women who sacrifice their lives to serve in the military.  However if you have a child, it should be raised by at least one of its parents and if its a newborn, it needs its mother.  

Patty

This woman must be extra special, when we had our children, if the baby wasn't sucking regular from my, her milk would dry up.  3 times a day is not enough.  After awhile it will become more difficult to get enough milk.  It is good that she tries to nurse because a lot of immunities is passed from mom to baby via breast milk.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I think its more important to actually have a mother than it is to have her milk.  This is rediculous.  The woman is being harold for the sacrifice she's making for her baby.  Have a baby?  RAISE IT! WTF? My hat and heart goes out to the men and women who sacrifice their lives to serve in the military.  However if you have a child, it should be raised by at least one of its parents and if its a newborn, it needs its mother.   Patty

Oh, I get it, a father is incapable of raising a child.

LeBlanc is helped by her husband, Mark, a stay-at-home dad who cares for their two children and is there to receive shipments and put them directly into the freezer.

And how dare she try to have a career and provide for her family! She should be home making sammiches and such.

Oh, and she wasn't "harold", she was "heralded".

Quoted: This woman must be extra special, when we had our children, if the baby wasn't sucking regular from my, her milk would dry up.  3 times a day is not enough.  After awhile it will become more difficult to get enough milk.  It is good that she tries to nurse because a lot of immunities is passed from mom to baby via breast milk.

That's because espressing milk simulates the presence of a child and continues milk production.  This involves a pump device which "sucks" in a sequence similar to a baby.