Adapted from the MD Mama blog on Boston.com.
Breast milk: it’s the perfect food for babies. So it’s understandable that some mothers who can’t breast-feed, or choose not to, want to give their babies breast milk from another woman. After all, it’s healthier than formula, right?
Not necessarily, says a study just released in the journal Pediatrics.
The concept is actually pretty ancient —
But breast milk is a bodily fluid — and by definition, bodily fluids can carry the person’s infections (including HIV), medications, toxins, and other things that have entered the body. And breast milk can be contaminated with germs like any other food or drink if it isn’t collected and stored properly.
Milk banks that work with the Human Milk Banking Association of North America screen donors, educate them in how to best collect, store and send milk, then they pasteurize the milk to kill any bacteria. That means that breast milk from milk banks is generally pretty safe, but it’s also pretty expensive.
It’s not surprising, then, that some parents turn to the Internet to find breast milk, figuring they can get it more cheaply and easily directly from donors. Some parents have other reasons for looking for a different source of breast milk; for example, actress Alicia Silverstone started a service for vegan women to donate breast milk to other vegan mothers who don’t want the breast milk they feed their child to have any traces of animal products in it. Some parents might feel that getting breast milk directly from the donor, as opposed to from a milk bank, is safer.
Researchers from Ohio wanted to know if it is safer, so they checked 101 samples of breast milk purchased through the Internet. They found that a whopping 74 percent were contaminated with bacteria. This could be very dangerous for infants, especially those born prematurely, or those with any medical problems. Many of the contaminated samples came from suppliers that advertised themselves as using safe and clean practices.
The Food and Drug Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics discourage getting breast milk this way exactly because of concerns like these. It’s entirely unregulated, and you just can’t be sure that the milk is collected or stored cleanly — or that the donor isn’t sick or taking drugs. Yes, breast milk is great for babies. But if it’s contaminated, or has medications or toxins in it, it’s not good. Babies are better off with formula than with contaminated breast milk.
So spread the word: Buyer beware. If you or someone you know is considering using donated breast milk, use a milk bank. At the very least, please talk to your doctor before using any breast milk that doesn’t come from a milk bank. Don’t take chances with a baby’s health.Read more of this blog at Boston.com/MDMama.