Uhm... wait a minute

I hate to be a party-pooper but it seems to me that, at least at the moment, the ratio of potential donor to mamas looking for donated milk is really quite low... And, not a single donor is in Western Canada, which is where we are... I'm starting to think I was mislead just a little bit about the chances of connecting with a donor in Canada (and I'm assuming customs would not permit the shipping of human milk from the US... though no one answered that inquiry when I posted it...).

Please correct me if I'm wrong.
So far I feel like I've invested way too much hope in this...

Agnieszka
in Calgary

mama, don't give up hope...help to spread the word about this place and I think the donors will come. All the "official" milk sites out there say they have enough donors, they aren't even accepting new ones at this time. There must be someone local who can help you, you just have to help her find you

don't give up yet

Please don't give up! I am one of the owners of Milkshare, and when we had the Yahoo group, we had A LOT of Canadian Mamas on there!! This new forum was JUST created, and not everyone has transfered over from the old group.
Give it another week or so!!

Kim

That is encouraging, Kim. Thank you!

Ditto what Kim said. When using the old system there seemed to be a lot more donor mamas. I was shocked when I signed up at the number of donors to recipients.

I am a donor mom. I normally just keep a eye on families looking for milk and contact them instead of posting an ad of my available milk. The couple of times I posted my inbox was over whelmed. We are out there but I am sure I am not the only lurker.

You'll get responses, you just have to keep your heart open and visualize your freezer (and baby's belly) full of milk. Also, have you tried contacting local doulas and lactation consultants and/or breastfeeding support businesses? I learned about MilkShare from our local breastfeeding pump/supply rental store, and I've also put the word out via some doulas and lactation consultants I worked with in the past and have gotten a few responses that way. Many mamas with extra milk don't even know about MilkShare, so we all have to spread the word and make requests via other routes as well. And as others have said, this is a new forum here, so once everyone comes over from Yahoo there should be more donors.

Wishing you success, please post your story once you receive lots of milk so other mamas won't give up when they run into the same problems. I know I didn't get any responses for a few weeks and had to post my request several times. We are going week by week and I am keeping a positive attitude about being able to get the milk we need for our twins and not ever go back to formula. I know it's so hard, please don't give up!

Hi all,
While I appreciate your enthusiasm and support, I have to say, I'm not holding my breath at all... I haven't heard from a single soul from here... But, maybe it'll take more time?? What more could I do? I have posted to all the local groups I am part of - without any response - and the professionals around could only suggest what I've already done (which was to post my request and wait). There are no milk banks around here. And I am going to assume that no one in the US would ship to Canada because of customs (I'm guessing but I think it must be the impossible with customs).

Anyway, I gave it a try and what more can I do?

Thanks,
Agnieszka

I think that this new forum is in its early days and many people either have not switched over or cannot or do not read the board frequently. It's also not the most intuitive of fora so it might be a while before there are as many people on as before. I think many people found the daily email digest extremely convenient. I know I as a donor responded more frequently to seekers than I posted offers.

I'm a canadian donor...I am not sure how you feel about shipping, as I am in Southern Ontario...but I have alot of milk in my freezer I can donate.

Jewelsx21 wrote:I'm a canadian donor...I am not sure how you feel about shipping, as I am in Southern Ontario...but I have alot of milk in my freezer I can donate.

Thank you! I found a donor here in Calgary! Or I should say, a donor found me!
So, thank you but for now we've got enough!

Blessings,
Agnieszka