It is common knowledge that breast milk is more nutritious than formula, and this has led to a recent surge in the number of U.S. mothers who breastfeed their babies. Unfortunately, not every mother has the opportunity to provide her own breast milk to her child. For example, Courtney Helms was struggling to produce enough breast milk to meet her baby’s needs after dealing with several bouts of strep throat. Therefore, she turned to a Facebook group to connect with other breastfeeding mothers who were producing more milk than their children needed.
Utilizing someone else’s breast milk will give you the opportunity to give your child a better head start in life than feeding them formula. However, groups such as the Human Milk Banking Association of North America caution that it is dangerous to accept milk that has not gone through a careful screening process for diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. In other words, it makes sense to seek out a breast milk donor if you are unable to produce enough, but it is not a wise decision to simply accept milk through an Internet exchange. After all, you would not give your baby formula from a package that had already been opened, so why would you trust a stranger to provide healthy breast milk for your child?
