Guest Post: What is Milk Sharing?

This post was submitted by Dinnae Galloway, blogger at Complete Wellness Concept.

If you didn’t know, I’m a volunteer admin for my local Human Milk 4 Human Babies chapter (or HM4HB for short).  I help, along with a handful of other dedicated, awesome chicks, to run the facebook page where peer-to-peer milksharing connections in BC happen.  What is HM4HB you ask?  Well, from the HM4HB website:

HM4HB is a global milksharing network, a virtual village, comprised of thousands of people from over fifty countries. We are mothers, fathers, adoptive families, grandparents, childbirth and breastfeeding professionals, volunteers, supporters, donors, and recipients that have come together to support the simple idea that all babies and children have the right to receive human milk. We use social media as a platform for local families to make real-life connections and come together as sustainable milksharing communities where women graciously share their breastmilk. HM4HB is built on the principle of informed choice: we trust, honour, and value the autonomy of families and we assert they are capable of weighing the benefits and risks of milksharing in order to make choices that are best for them. We hold the space for them and protect their right to do what is normal, healthy, and ecological.

And what is WMW 2012, I’m SURE you’re asking as a follow up, no?  ;)

The WMW Logo

WMW stands for World Milksharing Week.  This year will mark the 2nd Annual World Milksharing Week, and oh are we ever excited!

Why was WMW created?  Again, this time from the WMW website:

World Milksharing Week is held annually during the last week of September. Our goalis to celebrate milksharing and to promote human milk as the biologically normal nourishment for babies and children.

World Milksharing Week was born within Human Milk 4 Human Babies Global Network. The network launched the first ever World Milksharing Week, which took place from September 24-30, 2011, all around the planet. The logo was designed by HM4HB community page administrator, Dani Arnold-McKenny.

We hope that by raising awareness about milksharing, families will never again feel forced into feeding breastmilk substitutes –an act which is not without risk to the health of the child. The incredible sense of community that is created among donor and recipient families who partake in milksharing is to be celebrated.

So, not only do I volunteer with HM4HB ~ BC, I also am part of the WMW 2012 Committee.  I was part of it last year, and excited to be part of it again this year.  What do *I* do, as a volunteer?  Well, it’s kinda fun.  I blog, I post, I pin, I tweet.  I respond to emails, I post pics to the WMW 2012 Gallery, and stories to the WMW site.  And in the last week of September 2012, I will be co-hosting a World Milksharing Week Event again, most likely a potluck picnic like last year.  :)  Fun times, with the families that benefit from, support and encourage peer-to-peer milksharing!

Would you like to see how you can help? Do you have a milksharing story to share?  As a donor?  As a recipient?  I’d love to hear about it, and so would the rest of the WMW 2012 Committee.  You can submit your stories here, or feel free to comment here!

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Milk Sharing Blog Carnival!

We are happy to announce World Milksharing Week 2012, to be held September 24 – 30, 2012 at hundreds of locations around the globe. This year we specially want to celebrate the incredible sense of community that is created among donor and recipient families. Beyond geography and culture, sharing milk brings people together and it may gift us relationships that last a lifetime. The World Milksharing Week 2012 theme, ‘Sharing Milk, Nurturing Community’, was inspired in slogan submissions by Arie Brentnall-Compton and Ilse Padilla, and is an invitation to reflect upon the real-life, social connections that are born when we share human milk, and how we can come together to support each other as a milksharing community.

As part of last year's world milksharing week, hundreds of events were held around the world and online. This year, we want to take the celebration one step further by creating a milksharing party that, besides the characteristic events, also indulges all the senses: we aim to gather a colorful gallery of milksharing pictures, to compile a copious amount of heart-warming milksharing stories, and we have embarked on a video project adventure to show a live picture of the milksharing community. We hope that these efforts will shine a light on all different aspects surrounding the generous act of millksharing and that it will highlight the personal and community aspects --the friendship, joy, and care that come along with sharing human milk with one another. 

Welcome to World Milk Sharing Week's Blog Carnival. Happy reading!