Breastfeeding has long been hailed as the best nutrition for babies for the first six months. But only about 13% of women are able to actually do this.
Many circumstances lead new mothers to seek breast milk from others – some of these reasons include issues with the breast or nipples and of course, adoption. There has been an increasing need for breast milk as the popularity of infant adoptions grows.
And movie stars aren’t the only ones adopting overseas. The Internet has helped make overseas adoptions common, and many times they are infant adoptions.
Today’s version of a wet nurse is now referred to as milk sharing. Women who have extra milk can choose to share it by donating it to a milk bank or by selling it to a milk sharing site.
While some may view milk sharing as controversial, many women are extremely grateful for the opportunity to feed their infant breast milk for its valuable immunity nutrients.
Women seeking breast milk basically have two choices where to get it: a milk bank or a milk sharing site. But how safe is this “shared” breast milk?
A recent review of 101 samples from a popular breast milk sharing Internet site found some disturbing levels of bacteria in a sizeable portion of the samples:
- 4% had staph bacteria
- 36 has strep bacteria
- 1 in 5 had cytomegalovirus (CMV), which causes flu-like symptoms in healthy babies and can be very dangerous for preemies and others
- 3 had salmonella, which was attributed to hygiene and not washing hands after using the bathroom
- None had HIV
They also tested samples from a milk bank, which contained far fewer staph (25%) and strep (20%) bacteria.
They found that neither the temperature during shipment nor the type of container used were factors in bacteria contamination.
The biggest factor found was in where the samples originated: a popular milk sharing site that buys and then sells breast milk, versus a milk bank that provides donated milk.
While the study wasn’t about where the samples originated, the researchers believe the difference in bacteria levels is likely attributed to the difference in women donating milk, and those who gain monies selling milk.
Certainly, both companies “informed” women about sanitary factors such as hand-washing, but it appears that the women donating to milk banks are far more likely to follow those rules.
Fortunately, most of the bacteria found in the samples would likely only result in diarrhea, vomiting and listlessness and at its severest an overall infection.
If you would like to speak with a compassionate, experienced physician about breastfeeding options, please contact Gainesville pregnancy physicians at All About Women to schedule an appointment today.
