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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that breastmilk should be sold in the supermarket?

158 replies

paranoid2android · 04/12/2011 09:48

Wouldn't it make sense? Then every baby could benefit from breastmilk, even if their mums don't can't/don't want to breastfeed. Women could sell access breastmilk to 'farms' to stock the shops.It does strike me as being quite bizarre that we feed powdered milk from a cow to our children, that mothers sharing breastmilk would be seen as unusual.

OP posts:
auntiepicklebottom2 · 04/12/2011 10:17

what is so wrong with formula.

ds was bfed for 5.5 months, DD bfed for 3 days......between my 2 i can not see any diffrence between them heath and educatinal wise.

donar breast milk for premuture babies is given as it is easier to digest and alot more friendly on the stomach

StealthPolarBear · 04/12/2011 10:18

Choo talking about the risks of formula is equivalent to the benefits of BF. It's just setting bf as the bar rather tthan ff

MillyR · 04/12/2011 10:18

I'm not convinced the price should be brought down. Breast feeding is work - it takes up huge amount of energy, you have to be very careful with what you do/don't consume, and unlike breast feeding a baby, using a breast pump is not enjoyable and quite time consuming.

The price is high to reflect the value of what the woman is doing.

I actually would have been prepared to act as a wet nurse, but I doubt I would be prepared to pump milk and sell it. If I ever was prepared to do that, it would be based on me caring about the individual family and having a relationship with them, not purely for a monetary transaction.

rainbowinthesky · 04/12/2011 10:19

Please dont put words in my posts I didnt. I didnt use any emotive language like "poor" or "terrible", I was simply responding to cocoa's question about "benefits" and "risks".

RightUpMyRue · 04/12/2011 10:20

cocoa

Formula fed babies are at a greater risk of (to name a few):

diarrhoea and vomiting and having to go to hospital as a result
chest and ear infections and having to go to hospital as a result
being constipated
becoming obese and therefore developing type 2 diabetes and other illnesses later in life
developing eczema

You can view it the other way; that breastfed babies have a lower risk of the above but if we assume breastfeeding is the normal way to feed a baby (if we're going down a species specific, anthropological route) then the babies who receive formula are in a risk group because it's an intervention away from the norm.

BertieBotts · 04/12/2011 10:21

Do you know much about dairy farming, paranoid?

I can see where this idea is coming from, but farming it, no way. If more was available it would bring the price down? So one woman willing to donate milk is worth more, but if 100 women stepped up suddenly each of their milk is worth less? As SPB said, there are organisations which collect donated milk. No money is exchanged in this country.

MillyR · 04/12/2011 10:21

Do we have to turn this into a bf/ff debate? The health benefits of breast feeding are in the book the doctor gives you when you get pregnant. Do we really need to derail this thread to argue over them?

MillyR · 04/12/2011 10:22

RUMR, was not aiming my post at you in particular (X post).

Birdsgottafly · 04/12/2011 10:25

"So who would make it worth the while of all these women"

It wouldn't be a case of donating for the good of children. Mst of the women would be exploited, others would do it for need.

Tbh there wouldn't be a market for it. The majority of women who decide not to breastfeed, don't do so because they don't think that there is a benefit to breastmilk. Those that would use donated breastmilk would probably want to make sure that they knew where it had come from.

Op it is rare that women lactate full breastmilk when not breastfeeding. What is secreted isn't as rich in hormones/goodness.

Every mums BM is tailored to suit their baby. Alot of the problems with the bringing back up of milk, is because of bottle feeding, not the formula.

Would it be given free, like formula is now, for those on low incomes.

I would rather breastfeeding be promoted more.

insertcleverusernamehere · 04/12/2011 10:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Finallygotaroundtoit · 04/12/2011 10:29

Any profits would be quickly creamed off by businesses. Women would end up being exploited and quality control would be a nightmare.

It can be bought now by private arrangement here & elsewhere, including USA but I'm not sure every 'sale' is checked to ensure it isn't just cow's milk Hmm

Supporting milk banks for sick and prem babies as well as true support for women to feed their own babies is way to go imo

RightUpMyRue · 04/12/2011 10:29

It's alright Milly, there is no debate. It's an intensely personal choice so debating about it is completely pointless. I was just answering cocoa's Q. Smile

HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 04/12/2011 10:31

powdered breast milk would work, I think. If people could get over the 'ick' factor Grin It makes me laugh that we'll happily feed our babies - and drink ourselves - milk that has come from the breasts of cows and goats, and we'll eat cheese made from the milk that has come out of the breasts of cows, goats and sheep, but the idea of feeding human babies human milk makes so many people shudder Grin I wonder why that is. sexualisation of human breasts perhaps? or one step down from canibalism maybe Wink

Formula does the job just fine but there is no harm in acknowledging that the milk that has been designed by nature for a mother of a particular species to feed to their offspring is the better option (if there's enough of it, if the mother isn't on meds etc etc)

breastfeeding went horribly for me and mine both ended up on formula. Fair enough. It fed them. It provided the vitamins and minerals they needed. It did the job. But formula is not the same as human milk. That isn't a criticism of people who choose not to breast feed, or can't breast feed. It's a simple statement of fact. But you can't discuss it because people interpret it as a criticism of their choice / circumstance. When it isn't, not at all.

I would have loved to have breastfed mine for their first year. I couldn't. I used formula. It was fine. But my breast milk would have been better. If there had been enough of it Grin

MillyR · 04/12/2011 10:32

Sold breast milk is sold in freezer packs though, and you can't freeze formula milk, so I don't see how women could pass cows milk off as breast milk when selling it.

wannaBe · 04/12/2011 10:36

a lot of the "risks" attributed to ff hav emore to do with sterilisation though, of bottles, the fact that formula is not seen as totally sterile and these would apply equally in the case of bottled breastmilk.

I wasn't able to bf, but although I would have chosen to feed ds myself there is no way I would have fed him another woman's milk. There are just some lines that I don't think should be crossed IMO. I have no issue with breastfeeding or with women breastfeeding in public places or who express milk for their own babies, equally prem babies being fed EBM in a setting where they will benefit from it, but there is IMO a vast difference between that and having bottles of other womens' bodily fluids on display in supermarkets.

I think I would liken it to sperm donation - I can see the place for it in clinics and settings where it can be done properly but I wouldn't want to think that you could go into the sperm isle in the supermarket and see bottles of it for sale for those women whose dh's were unable to produce sperm...

Original poster
paranoid2android · 04/12/2011 10:37

sorry i didn't mean to spark debate abou ff v bf!
it was a bit thoughtless of me to suggest price of bmilk should be brought down, it is hard work and should be valued. i myself dont pump as found it too much hard work/painful on top of actual feedingand would probably prefer to be a wet nurse too rather than pump..
but then i also think cows should be valued for the milk they give but thats another thread! Smile

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 04/12/2011 10:47

IMO the only way it could work would not be under capitalism.

KiwiJean · 04/12/2011 10:58

I like the idea. Logistics would make it nigh impossible. But still, yes, I agree, it would be great to buy BM in the supermarket

Finallygotaroundtoit · 04/12/2011 11:02

wannaBe - the risks aren't just about sterility.

Formula is milk from a different species and giving it to humans can cause problems - the milk proteins can damage the gut lining, the immune system recognises that the milk is 'foreign' and can cause problems in the future as well - increasing risk of all infections and autoimmune disease

Does seeing bodily fluid from cows lined up in supermarket not offend you? Confused

Moominsarescary · 04/12/2011 11:04

You can freeze formula milk, they just say it isn't safe to so it could be passed off as bm

NinkyNonker · 04/12/2011 11:09

I would rather use donated milk than formula, absolutely. If I were not able to bf the one due in Spring I would pursue it through means such as Human Milk for Human Babies, but I don't think bm should be commercialised, for reasons already stated. Altruistically donating milk is very different to being paid for it, the motivation is different and so the risks are lessened.

NinkyNonker · 04/12/2011 11:13

Powdered bm is a great idea, but there is still the commercial problem and motivation issue. I don't drink cows' milk and find the concept odd, as much as I find the thought of people finding bm icky and preferring that of another species.

The aristocracy didn't bf because of wanting children in quick succession, not through ick factor.

ShatnersBassoon · 04/12/2011 11:15

I don't think it would be possible to harvest milk on a large enough scale to stock supermarkets, and it certainly would not be commercially viable.

The practicalities of it and the ethics of paying women to lactate are too complicated to consider as a possibility.

NinkyNonker · 04/12/2011 11:16

I would happily donate excess milk to altruistic banks.

callmemrs · 04/12/2011 11:29

Ugh I would hate the commercialisation of it. I also doubt there would be a demand tbh. Women who are unable to bf and whose babies would benefit more from donated breastmilk than from formula should have access to it free of charge through donor banks at hospital. They certainly should not have to buy it in' tesco! Those who are able to bf but choose not to, would, I imagine, be unlikely to buy someone elses breastmilk from the supermarket.