And now, buy breast milk online

There are many takers for this in the West. But it’s a trend fraught with danger, not least for the babies

We’ve heard of banks for breast milk, meant for mothers who for some medical reason or emergency, are unable to breastfeed their babies. But a new, dangerous trend is setting in, particularly in developed countries such as the US and UK, where online sale of breast milk is getting more and more takers.

Last week the British Medical Journal ( BMJ) came out with an editorial in which the doctors leading an ongoing research study at the University of London warned mothers buying breast milk online of a high probability of such milk being contaminated.

Not only do their babies face serious health risks due to multiple infections, they said, their very lives could be in danger.

This is because unlike milk banks where the expressed breast milk is pasteurised and stored scientifically, and the donors screened for infections such as HIV, herpes and so on, the online market is totally unregulated.

Over the last couple of years several medical studies have found such milk containing high levels of bacteria and warning bells have been sounded. But the real wake-up call has come in the BMJ editorial where the dangers of breast milk sold online have been enumerated.

The lead author Dr Sarah Steele was quoted by The Guardian as saying the study was started with a “curiosity point of view”, but the public health data is “so definitive on how dangerous it is that we couldn’t wait for the end of our project because that could have taken several years to complete. It was so damning that we felt we had to approach the BMJ and say: ‘This needs to get out there now.’ We don’t want to be writing the report after there has been an infant death in Britain”.

“Natural superfood”

Unregulated websites selling breast milk attract tens of thousands of users in the US; this is catching up in the UK and other countries too. It is preferred to the much safer milk banks because the price is substantially lower.

The principal risk here is that the stored milk is frozen, but when it is shipped out it thaws; that is when the bacteria grow and multiply, posing a health hazard.

And guess what? There is a growing adult market for mother’s milk. Many gym enthusiasts and body-builders opt for it as a “natural superfood”. Those in the third adult group shop for breast milk because they “like to be fed like a baby, either from source or from a bottle”, says Steele.

But coming to infants for whom the breast milk is really meant, women are opting for it thanks to growing societal pressure that the baby should get mother’s milk. So, forgetting adults with a fetish for breast milk, we must pause and think about a world where women need to buy breast milk for their babies.

Gender nuances

Keeping aside the multiple health risks of buying infected breast milk online — other medical studies too have found such health risks —, there are so many layers and gender nuances here. If a mother is unable to breastfeed her baby due to medical reasons, the mother’s choice for the next best alternative — breast milk from a lactating woman — is understandable.

Next come the women with high pressure jobs and lives crowded with hectic travel or long days at the office.

While many such women express their breast milk and bottle it for the baby for use during their absence, some can’t do this and have to buy the milk; it is a choice the woman makes.

And she has the right to do so, because the battle for gender equity won’t go too far if women can’t make their own choices.

Then there are women who choose not to have children as they feel their careers will not allow adequate time and space for a child. They have the right to make that choice as well.

The problem arises when women opt not to breastfeed their babies as they are captive to beauty myths such as breastfeeding spoiling their figure or making them physically unattractive.

Beauty myths

On the contrary, medical research is replete with the advantages of breastfeeding — redistribution of fat in the body, faster contraction of the uterus, and so on.

But above all, it is the deep bond that develops between mother and child as she holds the baby close in her arms, whispering, talking, singing as she nurses her, that is priceless.

But to give up all this and settle for substitute breast milk sold online in the false belief that you are giving your child all the proven benefits of breast milk — better nutrition, easier digestion, immunity from infections — is to kid yourself. As the researchers point out, if mother has HIV, hepatitis B, or other infections, you’ll be putting your child at grave risk. Not to forget other negatives such as the unhygienic conditions under which the milk is collected and stored.

As one study found, breast milk for such commercial sale online is often expressed with milk pumps that haven’t been washed for days! Add to this the online donors not having to undergo any serological screening for infections and the horror multiplies.

Tragic misconceptions

The most tragic among the people out there shopping in the cyber world for breast milk are cancer patients who’ve been told that breast milk has magical healing properties. At the most vulnerable stage of their lives, they and their relatives will try anything that promises the slightest hope. Just think of the consequences on their already battered systems if such contaminated milk is ingested.

And then what begins in the West has to come down to India, and become an even bigger industry.

Look at what happened to surrogate motherhood, particularly in Gujarat’s Anand, where it became infamous as “reproductive tourism”.

Our lawmakers who were only too happy to put youngsters behind bars for postings on Facebook — thank heavens the draconian Section 66A of the IT Act has been struck down by the Supreme Court — are unlikely to show such dexterity where it really matters.

Hopefully, public outcry and stringent regulations in the US/UK will kill this industry before it proliferates in India. Indian women are much better off buying clothes and footwear, mobile phones and handbags online.

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