When it comes to the nutritional needs of infants, breastfeeding has been widely documented as the best nutritional source. Many new mothers, however, see it as a daunting task to produce breast milk. Thus, they resort to buying formula milk or worse, purchasing online breast milk which is sold over the internet. A report published in The British Medical Journal claims that buying breast milk online can pose serious health risks to infants.
Purchasing human breast milk on the internet can be cheaper than buying from regulated milk banks because a series of tests is waived. The Times of India reported that milk should be screened for diseases like Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and Syphilis.
Also, the report said that breast milk purchases via the internet may be contaminated with bacteria because they lack the proper testing and procedures like pasteurization - which are needed to make sure the milk is safe. One study showed that only 9 out of 101 samples were safe and did not contain bacteria.
"Online these women find emotive, moralizing discourse around breastfeeding and often fear-inducing warnings that formula is inferior to human milk for infant feeding," the experts in the journal note as reported by Medical News Today.
"They may also find sites that facilitate the buying, selling and trading of breast milk, as well as high-profile media sites featuring celebrities who are engaged in this trade. In the absence of warnings about the dangers of buying milk online, this option might seem healthy and beneficial - the better choice if one can't breastfeed oneself," they added.
Previous studies have showed that 25% of milk samples were delivered inside boxes with poor packaging and some of them were not frozen, which could possibly make the milk a good ground for bacterial contamination.
Since breastfeeding is still a difficult practice for new mothers, health care providers should be trained in educating parents on the benefits of breastfeeding. The researchers also noted that breast milk sold online should be regulated to prevent serious complications to infants.