Blood Screening

Any tips on how to get the blood screenings done (same ones the milk banks do)? Do I need to go to my doctor? Can I go straight to a lab? What is the cheapest way? Any info on this would be much appreciated!

Not sure of all the options, but I signed up to donate thru capitol health out of new jersey. They are a hub for Prolacta, who will pay to have a nurse come to your home and do a blood test. I only plan to give them a small portion of my excess milk, as most will be going to local moms.

They are not very fast in scheduling, but its free! I started the process in Dec and had my blood drawn last week.

Will they send you a copy of the results?

Prolacta didn't send me the official result, but when I inquired about my blood work result via Prolacta's website, they replied back to me saying all tests came negative and what kind of tests I received. I kept the email from Prolacta and sent it to one of my recipient mom. By the way, I got qualifed by milk bank at Capital Health Systems, too.

Aslo, I obtained a copy of my prenatal blood work result (one page summary of all tests and result) from my OB/GYN. I think most recipient moms will be fine with that, too.

To get a new test done, I have no idea how recipient can fund and make arrangement, either...

One of my recipients who wanted my colostrum-rich milk for her unborn child asked me to get a hep C test so she could use my milk in the hospital when the child was born. My midwives don't test for that during the normal prenatal tests and her pediatrician requested that she have the bloodwork in hand (one assumes for legal precautionary reasons) before he would allow my milk into the hospital.

In any case, she had her midwife write a lab request slip for me and she checked with the lab how much the test would cost for an uninsured patient. She gave me a check for the amount and the slip. I had previously accepted a check for bag reimbursement and it went through so I was fine accepting a check. I made an appointment, walked into the lab, paid, had a tube of blood drawn and away I went, all very quick and relatively painless.

I would caution recipients and donors interested in more tests that when you inquire about the cost of a lab, also be sure to ask if there are fees or charges for the blood draw itself; my recipient didn't know about that and they didn't tell her, so it was $10 more expensive than we expected.

Since my question is related to this I'll just ask it here.

Can a donor request that a recipient cover the cost of the blood work?

Squeaky McMurdo wrote:Since my question is related to this I'll just ask it here.

Can a donor request that a recipient cover the cost of the blood work?

I'd say recipient should cover the cost of blood work...

http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/donationetiquette

I really have no idea how much it costs to get a blood work done, but a lot of my prenatal blood work was very expensive (if I didn't use my medical insurance); easily over a couple of hundred dollars... so if it were to cost that much, I can't afford to pay that out of my pocket being a donor...

Well I had my daughter unassisted and plan to do the same for the one I'm expecting in a couple weeks, so not doing any prenatal appointments even.

If it was a matter of only a couple bucks then I wouldn't mind paying for screening out of my own pocket, but the last time I went to the doctor I got charged $75 just for showing up.

A donor in general generally pays for the pumping equipment, the time to pump, and the food she requires to make the milk. If the cost of a pump is insurmountable, you may be able make arrangements if the recipient is willing for her to pay for all or some of the cost of the pump although I think this only happens for long term donor-recipient relations. Recipients should always reimburse/pay for requested testing and the cost of milk bags and other such consumable equipment. In addition, if you choose to ship your milk, you should only have to provide the time and labor to pack the milk and drop it off, all costs related to shipping are to be borne by the recipient: container, packing materials, dry ice as necessary, and all shipping costs and fees.

So, yeah, if someone asks you to get testing done, it's perfectly fine to ask them to cover the costs of getting the testing done.