This is interesting. For comparison, in Sweden you donate (sell) milk directly to hospitals where it is handled locally and given to prematurely born children in the hospital.<p>The prices are set locally by each hospital but is currently at around $20-30 usd / liter, and has been raised a number of times over the last 10 years to encourage more people to donate milk. Hospitals buy milk from each other when necessary for somewhere around $100 per liter.<p>Donated milk is usually only accepted for the first three months after the donating mothers child was born. All equipment (pumps, bottles etc.) are provided by the hospital.<p>That said, I would encourage as many people as possible to donate milk, it makes a huge difference for those tiny prematurely born babies.
I've heard stories of ultra-expensive breastmilk that is mixed from many donors - it supposedly gives the newborn antibodies from all those moms (expressed in the breastmilk - that's where babies get their antibodies until their own immune systems kick in). Does anyone have more info?<p>There's a similar concept for general antibody donation, which is given to the immune compromised, called intravenous immuno-globulin (IVIG)[0], which is extremely effective at modulating the immune system and enhancing immunity. Basically, they take blood donations, purify only (some) antibodies, and mix some 10,000 donors so that the resulting donation is well-rounded in its contents.<p>[0] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin</a>
Is this a market now wholly because the United States has shit maternity leave laws, or would it be a market without it as well?<p>For some cultures, there has been an employment category called "wet nurses" whose entire job was to look after an infant and breastfeed it as a mother would. Perhaps as society becomes more an more unequal, we'll see a resurgence of wet nurses for rich infants.
There are a lot of women who would prefer to breastfeed but can't for a variety of physiological reasons, so this market would at least have the potential to exist even if America's maternity leave laws weren't barbaric.