The risks of online milk-sharing

A study conducted by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in Columbus, OH and published on October 21, 2013 in Pediatrics, found breastmilk from two popular websites was often contaminated with high levels of bacteria, including salmonella. The study looked at the risks of buying breastmilk over the internet, a practice that has grown recently.

“This study confirms the concerns of health professionals over this unregulated marketplace,” says Nicholas Bakalar, contributor to The New York Times. According to Cleveland.com reporter Angela Townsend: “The study makes you worry. This is a potential cause of disease. Even with a relative, it’s probably not a good idea to share,” says Dr. Richard Polin, director of neonatology and perinatology at Columbia University.

• Nearly 20 percent of the samples the researchers received weren’t packaged with dry ice or other cooling methods.
• More than 10 percent of the shipments took three days or longer to arrive.
• An analysis showed each additional transit day longer than two days was associated with an increase in total bacteria count.
• Many sellers didn’t provide information about their milk handling or storage practices, legal or illegal drug consumption, or if they had been screened - and cleared - for diseases transmitted through breastmilk.

Risks of non-tested breastmilk

We are well aware of the health benefits of breastmilk – it’s the ideal nutrition for infants, and neonatal intensive care units insist on it for even the smallest babies. But it is a bodily fluid, and has the potential to carry harmful bacteria, just like blood or saliva. If you buy breastmilk online, or even from a friend or relative, you run the risk that the donor has not disclosed their health status - from the common cold or flu, right up to riskier diseases.

In this particular study, researchers collected 101 samples from milk-sharing websites, recorded the sellers’ assertions regarding their health and their methods of storing the breastmilk, and then analyzed them. They found 64 percent were contaminated with staph, 36 percent with strep, and nearly three-quarters with other bacterial species.

In all, 74 percent of the samples would have failed milk bank criteria. That’s a pretty big risk to take with your child. Even if you do everything possible to get the medical records of your donor, there are things that can go wrong with the milk that are outside of your control.

Reputable milk banks test rigorously 

A reputable milk bank puts donations through rigorous testing.  Donors are carefully screened, donors and their physicians sign medical forms, blood tests are conducted, and with some milk banks, donations are matched to DNA of the donor to ensure the donated breastmilk came from the tested and screened donor.

Some milk banks even go further and test not only for bacteria, but drugs and viruses. Women on certain medications, or those who smoke, are unable to donate.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life with continuation for a year or longer. They adhere to the position that breastfeeding ensures the best possible health, developmental, and psycho-social outcomes for an infant.

Because breastmilk, often referred to as “liquid gold”, can be such a lifesaver for newborns, parents unable to provide it for their children may opt to source it online. And as this study shows, that choice carries measurable risks.

Breastmilk, for all its benefits, is still a bodily fluid, and can carry and transmit dangerous bacteria and viruses. And because it is a bodily fluid, it has to be handled, stored, packed and shipped by rigorous methods that minimize the possibility that it will be contaminated by microorganisms.

All parents should weigh the potential unseen risks of buying any donated breastmilk that hasn’t been through stringent, regulated testing and processing.