Informal Milk Sharing: We Know It Occurs!
Many worldwide medical organizations recommend exclusive breastfeeding for six months followed by continued breastfeeding with the introduction of complementary foods until at least one year or for as long as the mother and baby desire. The American Academy of Family Physicians, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Surgeon General, and UNICEF all recommend breastfeeding for at least two years or as long as mother and baby desire.
What happens, though, if the mother is unable to produce milk, as in breast hypoplasia or chemotherapy? Parents want to feed their baby breast milk, and many formal milk banks do not have the quantity of donors or banked human milk to be able to provide for more than the NICU population. We know that informal human milk sharing has occurred throughout history, and that it still occurs today. With the freedom of internet sharing among parents, online connections are frequently made to share one parent’s abundance with another parent’s lack of human milk. Should we as health care practitioners encourage or discourage this informal sharing? Does your facility have a policy or protocol for dealing with this issue?
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's guidelines for informal milk sharing
Last year (2017), the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) issued a Position Statement on Informal Breast Milk Sharing for the Term Healthy Infant¹. You can access this free download at the ABM website: http://www.bfmed.org/protocols It says, “Providers should help mothers and families make informed choices about the risks and benefits of informal breast milk sharing…[and] can advise recipients on medical screening of donors for illnesses and medications that are contraindicated. As donors need screening, we discourage the use of any milk from an anonymous donor,” (p. 1). Lists included in the position statement include medical screening recommendations and guidelines for home pasteurization using the flash heating method.
Final thoughts..
In their conclusion, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine(ABM) “…recognizes that informal milk sharing is an increasingly common practice with potential health benefits for the term healthy infant, but encourages adherence to these guidelines to reduce risk and make milk sharing as safe as possible,” (p. 2). However, ABM strongly discourages internet-based milk sharing and the purchase of human milk via the internet since donors are unknown, may not be medically screened, and the milk “is often not suitable for consumption upon arrival”.
What are your thoughts on informal milk sharing? Are you familiar with the ABM guidelines? Use this position statement to start collaborative conversations and/or set up hospital protocols for informal sharing of human milk. I hope you remember to share this article. If you found it informative then you may also be interested in a previous one on The Importance of Skin-to-Skin care after birth.
Cheers,
Kathy
Referrences
Sriraman, N.K., Evans, A.E., Lawrence, R., Noble, L., and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine’s Board of Directors. (2017). Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine’s 2017 Position Statement on informal breast milk sharing for the term healthy infant. Breastfeeding Medicine; 13(1): 1-3.
