Israeli Mother Uses Donor Breast Milk and Special Device to Simulate Nursing

Rachel Shapiro Davis, a 37-year-old midwife and lactation consultant from Kiryat Tivon, Israel, has been using donor breast milk to feed her five children for the past seven years. After experiencing difficulty producing milk herself following her first child's birth, Shapiro Davis was determined to provide her babies with breast milk. She developed a unique feeding method that simulates breastfeeding, allowing her children to nurse from her while receiving donor milk through a thin tube.

To obtain sufficient donor milk, Shapiro Davis has sourced hundreds of liters from around the world, including from Sweden, Denmark, England, Norway, Finland, Canada, Hawaii, and Texas. She describes her children as "children of the world" due to the international contributions. She also relies on a community of doulas and midwives who help her collect milk. In one instance, she managed to arrange a shipment of 65 liters of frozen donor milk from England, which faced bureaucratic hurdles upon arrival in Israel before being resolved.

Shapiro Davis's specialized feeding system involves filling a special bottle with donor milk, which is then connected to a thin tube. During nursing, the baby latches onto her nipple while the tube is placed in their mouth, allowing them to receive milk from both sources. She emphasizes that this method, while simulating nursing, also provides the "bonding" experience. She has adapted this technique for each of her children, with plans to use double tubes for her youngest as he gets older.

Shapiro Davis has documented her journey on her Instagram page. She also shares her expertise by teaching at her school, "Equilibrio," and lecturing on childbirth biomechanics. Notably, she gave birth to two of her children during air raid sirens, one during the initial Iranian attack and another during the ongoing war, requiring unique delivery circumstances including a police escort and a birth in a bomb shelter.

She acknowledges that the method "tricks" the baby into thinking the milk comes directly from the nipple, but highlights the emotional and bonding benefits, contrasting it with standard bottle feeding. Her children have nursed using this method until around age one, with one daughter nursing until age two.