Maternal attitudes toward human milk sharing (1017.7)

Sharing of expressed human milk (HM) is becoming increasingly common in the US. Little is known about mothers’ opinions of this practice. Our goal was to gain a deeper understanding of maternal attitudes toward HM sharing. We conducted retrospective interviews (n = 30) with a diverse sample of mothers of children aged ~1‐3 years. Women were asked how they felt about HM sharing generally as well as their personal experience of providing or obtaining HM. Interviews were transcribed and themes were identified using an inductive approach. Several women had provided HM for another infant and some had obtained HM from another woman. Providers often had excess HM that they did not think that their infant would ever consume. Obtainers either did not produce enough HM or they had another medical condition affecting their ability to feed their own HM. Many interviewees were open to the idea of providing HM for another infant; however, fewer said they would be willing to obtain HM from another woman. Many women, whether they obtained HM or not, expressed concern about the dietary habits or disease status of HM providers; only a few mentioned hygienic HM expression and handling. It was generally assumed that, if the HM was being consumed by the provider’s own child, then it must be safe. Given the potential for microbial contamination of expressed HM, the extent of HM sharing and its safety must be determined. Grant Funding Source : EOS was supported by an International Fulbright Science & Technology Award