subject: Buying Breast Milk Online Fraught With Risk--fda [print this page] Is sharing, selling and buying breast milk online a good idea?
According to health experts, buying human milk online from strangers or even sharing among friends puts babies at risk of disease.
The practice of purchasing breast milk through the internet is fraught with controversies.
Sharing milk informally is dangerous because the risk of transmitting diseases such as HIV and hepatitis through human milk very high.
Since there is no proper screening, a woman selling milk could carry infections endangering the health of the infant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning against purchasing milk online stating, "The donor is unlikely to have been adequately screened for infectious disease or contamination risk.
"It is not likely that the human milk has been collected, processed, tested or stored in a way that reduces possible safety risks to the baby.
A new phenomenon
The practice of women sharing breast milk is not something unique. It has been prevalent for centuries.
However, what is novel is the idea of women selling breast milk online, sometimes to perfect strangers in order to make some extra cash.
Some women who produce extra milk turn to the internet sites like OnlytheBreast.com and EastonFeets.org to sell their breast milk to mothers who could not produce enough of their own to nurse their kids.
FDA recommends milk banks
Recent studies have shown that breast milk is better than formula as it reduces baby's risk of infection, sudden infant death syndrome, and even of childhood cancers.
The health regulators urge women who are unable to produce adequate breast milk, due to illness or medication, to turn to Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
According to the FDA, these banks are safe because they go through extreme measures to screen the women donating breast milk.
Doctors at the milk bank screen the donors, prepare questionnaires and even have the women submit results of blood tests to ensure that they are donating breast milk to help and not hurt the babies.
International Board Certified Lactation consultant Sam Doak, the former contact person for the local La Leche League, stated, "The La Leche League says that human milk from the mom is still the best option followed by milk expressed by the mom, human milk from another mother and then formula.
by: Priyanka Verma
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