In the United States, more and more women are giving milk on the internet. The donation of milk must however be supervised to avoid any risk of contamination.
The donation of breast milk is a necessary practice, but it can become dangerous when it is carried out without any control. For years, milk banks have taken care of this, but more and more women receive or give informally. In the United States, a scientist carried out a survey on the subject, the results of which were published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Nikita Sood notes that mothers are not always aware of the risks.
Mothers trust other mothers
“Informal milk donation is becoming more and more popular and widespread, announces the researcher. It is therefore crucial that doctors are aware of the existence of this practice and the risks associated with it in order to educate patients.” On Facebook, Nikita Sood carried out a survey: of the 650 respondents, half said they saw no safety problem in this practice, and 80% said they had not asked for health information from the donor because they trusted them. . However, breast milk can transmit diseases to children, or residues of medicine, alcohol or drugs.
A common practice for many years
In 2011, the association of lactariums of France (ADLF) already warned about the risks of milk donation on social networks like Facebook. “Recently, some mothers who are unable to sufficiently breastfeed their full-term child have turned to networks that have developed via Facebook, explained a communicated. These networks propose to put them in contact with mothers who wish to donate their milk.”
Very supervised milk donations
In France, there are 19 milk banks: they allow mothers to make a personal donation, their milk is analyzed and pasteurized then given to their premature child or to other babies in the same situation. These donations make it possible to feed babies weighing less than 1.5 kilos or being born before 33 weeks of gestation. They are almost as supervised as blood donation. “A woman who smokes, who consumes alcohol, who has received a blood transfusion, who is a carrier of the AIDS virus or who has risky sexual behavior cannot give her milk”, explained Jocelyne Trompette, director of the lactarium. from Lyon to Figaro in 2016. With each donation, serological and bacteriological tests are carried out. At the lactarium of the CHU de Lyon, 15% of the milk collected is destroyed because it does not meet health criteria.
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