ArticleInternational breastfeeding journal2022
"It's more than milk, it's mental health": a case of online human milk sharing.
Article in International breastfeeding journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Explaining the experiences of donors, recipients, and healthcare providers regarding milk donation: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Pooled it
- Factors associated with informal human milk sharing among donors and recipients: A mixed-methods systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Informal Human Milk Sharing: The Experiences and Practices of Informal Human Milk Sharing in Ireland.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Exploring human milk donation: A cross-sectional study.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Peer-to-Peer Human Milk Sharing Through Social Media Groups: The Experiences of Women Donors and Recipients in Hong Kong.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Understanding modifiable barriers to human milk donation in the United Kingdom.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
- Experiences of breast milk donors in Sweden: balancing the motivation to do something good with overcoming the challenges it entails.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMilk sharing is not a new concept and occurs today via regulated human milk banks and unregulated online milk sharing groups. Exploring and understanding how, and why, mothers use these peers to peer milk sharing groups, is a vehicle to understanding how breastfeeding mothers can be tangibly supported online, adding to the literature on peer milk sharing, from a recipient's perspective. This research presents a single case example of an online breastfeeding support group use, through one mother's experiencing of seeking human donor milk.
methodThis is a qualitative, exploratory study observing the attitudes, thoughts, and feelings of one mother who is seeking human donor milk through online groups. A single key case was identified, and the participant was asked to document thoughts and feelings as she searched for milk online. A telephone interview was conducted after two months, and the online page activity from the Human Milk for Human Babies Facebook group was captured for the week following the interview. The results were presented in a chronological and linear analytical approach adopting pattern matching.
results'Abbi' is a mother who has Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and subsequent low milk supply and sought donor breastmilk online. Online support groups introduced her to donor milk sharing, which not only supported her breastfeeding but supported her own mental health. Abbi talks of the need to build a trusting relationship with her donor, due to the lack of regulation, and the positive impact it had for her and 'Lucas', her baby.
conclusionConsidering milk sharing groups simply as tangible online support ignores the complexities around Abbi's decision to use human donor milk. Peer milk sharing online is an option for mothers, but it is surrounded by stigma amongst other mothers, professionals, and even within pro breastfeeding support groups.
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Registered trials
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