An initiative that seeks to increase breastfeeding rates among urban black mothers is under fire from Detroit breastfeeding advocates who worry it could exploit the women the company claims to want to help.
An open letter published last week by Detroit nonprofit Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association calls on Medolac Laboratories to answer questions about an initiative to enroll 2,000 more urban African-American mothers as breast milk donors for a cooperative milk bank. More than 400 individuals and organizations signed the letter.
Medolac’s milk bank, Mother’s Milk Cooperative, runs the only program in the nation that pays milk donors, according to the company. Members — who currently number over 1,000 throughout 47 states — earn $1 for each ounce of excess breast milk they donate and receive benefits like dividends and stocks. Milk is then sold to hospitals, where it’s used for sick and preterm infant care. The co-op is incorporated in Michigan, the Detroit News reports, while Medolac Laboratories is based in Oregon.
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For now, Green will continue pushing for Medolac to give thorough answers to the questions in their open letter — she said they had emailed a short response, but it hadn’t clarified much — and to meet with BMBFA and other community groups.
“I feel as if you’re going to bring a program to a city, then you should be willing to meet with the people within the city who have concerns about it,” Green said. “If Medolac’s coming here, we’re going to demand that they’re accountable to what they [say they’ll] do.”
