Perception and management of risk in Internet-based peer-to-peer milk-sharing

Abstract

The perception and management of the risks of peer-to-peer milk sharing was explored via a written questionnaire administered to 97 peer milk donors and 41 peer milk recipients who were recruited via Facebook. All recipients’ respondents were aware that there were risks associated with using peer-shared milk and took action to mitigate these risks; however, their knowledge and risk mitigation was incomplete. Recipient respondents were well informed as to the risks involved in artificial feeding and this contributed to their decision to prefer peer-shared milk. Many donor respondents did not follow guidelines for safe milk expression. Many respondents had not discussed milk sharing with a health provider. It is recommended that health providers be proactive in providing education to minimise the risks of peer-to-peer milk sharing. This is the first study to examine the views and practices of Internet-facilitated peer-to-peer milk sharing and provides insight that may improve the safety of the practice.

Keywords:

• wet nursing
• risk perception
• risk management
• breastfeeding
• formula feeding

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the women who so kindly shared their experiences and the administrators of the Human Milk 4 Human Babies and Eats on Feets Facebook pages who assisted with participant recruitment.

Notes on contributor

Karleen D. Gribble, B.Rur.Sc., Ph.D. is an adjunct fellow in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Western Sydney. Her research interests incorporate a variety of areas related to infant feeding including: adoptive breastfeeding, long-term breastfeeding, infant feeding in emergencies and child protection and breastfeeding.