Beatriz M. Reyes-Foster

Liquid gold or Russian roulette? Risk and human milk sharing in the US news media

The exchange of human breast milk, a common and well-established practice, has become a site of public controversy in the US. There is controversy over the use of the internet to facilitate milk exchange and public interest in the practice has been stimulated by a research article published in the journal Pediatrics that identified high levels of potentially harmful bacteria in breast milk sold online. In this article we use feminist critical discourse analysis to critically examine how breast milk sharing is represented in a sample of 30 articles from US print newspapers published in 2010–2013. We found complex and contradictory images of human milk, with medically supervised milk banks represented as a life-saving entity, nature’s ‘liquid gold’, whereas peer sharing of breast milk was represented as dangerous, and in this context breast milk was represented as a potentially life-threatening substance. Women who donated milk to milk banks were represented as altruistic and those who obtained their babies’ milk from the milk bank were represented as responsible and acting in the best interests of their babies. In contrast women who participated in peer milk sharing were represented at best as ill-informed about the risks to babies and at worst, morally reprehensible for disregarding the risks. Mothers who fed their babies this milk were represented as irresponsible and playing ‘Russian roulette’ with their babies. We argue that such contradictory representations are grounded in concerns in high income countries such as the USA with the control and surveillance of the female body through discourses of risk and are based on cultural constructions of individualism and intensive mothering.

Milk Sharing in Practice: A Descriptive Analysis of Peer Breastmilk Sharing

Peer breastmilk sharing has emerged in recent years as a subject of investigation and occasional controversy. Although researchers know that thousands of milk exchanges are facilitated through milk sharing Web sites every week, there is only limited research into milk sharing practices on the ground. This study examines these practices through a 102-item online survey that asked questions about milk sharing practices, perceptions of milk sharing, and demographic characteristics. Participants were recruited through social media sites specific to breastfeeding and parenting events in Central Florida. The sample consisted of 392 respondents. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis. We found that breastmilk sharing is a complex practice, showing high levels of overlap in which some donors are also recipients, and that cross-nursing sometimes occurs simultaneously with the exchange of expressed milk. Respondents often donated and received milk from people they knew; however, exchanging milk with strangers was also common. Many but not all used the Internet to facilitate milk exchange; participants used well-known milk sharing Web sites as well as their private virtual networks. The study found that most milk exchanges happen in-person as gifts and that selling and shipping breastmilk were rare. We suggest that further research is needed on breastmilk sharing practices to inform breastmilk safety research and policy recommendations.

Grieving for mestizaje: alternative approaches to Maya identity in Yucatan, Mexico

This article takes as its point of departure the highly contested theoretical terrain of ‘Maya’ identity in Yucatan, Mexico. Set in the physical terrain of a state psychiatric hospital, this article uses a framework of identity culled from the narrative of a young woman, ‘Claudina’, committed to its wards, to argue that being ‘in-between’ categories of ethnic identity, an experience she characterises as a painful sense of ambiguous loss, can be fruitfully analysed using an analytical framework of ethnic identity introduced by Claudina herself. Specifically, I argue that categories of identity culled from Claudinas story – mestizaje and elegancia – represent a valuable opportunity to think about how power dynamics and relationships operate in situations of ambivalent identities and social suffering. To this end, I use Claudinas language as a point of departure for understanding the lived experience of everyday life in Yucatan today.

Human Milk Handling and Storage Practices Among Peer Milk-Sharing Mothers:

Background: Peer milk sharing, the noncommercial sharing of human milk from one parent or caretaker directly to another for the purposes of feeding a child, appears to be an increasing infant-feeding practice. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against the practice, little is known about how people who share human milk handle and store milk and whether these practices are consistent with clinical safety protocols. Research aim: This study aimed to learn about the milk-handling practices of expressed human milk by milk-sharing donors and recipient caretakers. In this article, we explore the degree to which donors and recipients adhere to the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine clinical recommendations for safe handling and storage. Methods: Online surveys were collected from 321 parents engaged in peer milk sharing. Univariate descriptive statistics were used to describe the safe handling and storage procedures for milk donors and recipients. A two-sample t-test was used to compare safety items common to each group. Multivariate ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to examine sociodemographic correlates of milk safety practices within the sample group. Results: Findings indicate that respondents engaged in peer milk sharing report predominantly positive safety practices. Multivariate analysis did not reveal any relationship between safety practices and sociodemographic characteristics. The number of safe practices did not differ between donors and recipients. Conclusion: Parents and caretakers who participate in peer human milk sharing report engaging in practices that should reduce risk of bacterial contamination of expressed peer shared milk. More research on this particular population is recommended.

Suspect Bodies, Suspect Milk: Milk Sharing, Wetnursing, and the Specter of Syphilis in the Twenty-First Century

Peer human milk sharing (the giving of human milk from one person to another with the intention of feeding an infant) has emerged as a controversial practice in recent years. In this chapter, we consider the contemporary phenomenon of human milk sharing and banking through the lens of nineteenth- and twentieth-century concerns about syphilis and wetnursing. We draw on ethnographic observation, qualitative survey responses, and media representations of peer breast milk sharing to construct our analysis. We identify echoes of earlier concerns with morality and milk in contemporary conversations, noting an interesting contrast between alarmist media representations of peer milk sharing and the way in which milk-sharing mothers understand the risks and realities of peer milk sharing.

Using the Photovoice Method to Elicit Authentic Learning in Online Discussions

While online discussions remain popular in college classrooms, mixed results persist about their effectiveness in eliciting authentic learning. This case study explores how students perceive the influence of the Photovoice method on their authentic learning, critical thinking, engagement, and peer interaction in an asynchronous online discussion. Photovoice is a research method combining photography with social action, in which people express their points of view by photographing scenes that highlight certain themes. Students in an online undergraduate course engaged in an online discussion which asked them to connect personal images to the course content. Students reported that this strategy supported authentic learning, critical thinking, engagement, and interaction; in addition, a correlational analysis found that these factors are highly interrelated. This case study proposes recommendations for practitioners interested in using a similar approach.