#milk sharing

This is something I want you to be VERY careful about.  If you decide that you have a relationship with another lactating person that is close enough to trust them breastfeeding your child, there are some important considerations to take.

Breast milk is a human bodily fluid, and it can transfer diseases, such as the following:

Hepatitis C

HIV

Cytomegalovirus

Rubella

Medications/chemicals that can be transferred through breastmilk:

Environmental toxins (chemicals the lactating person may be exposed to at work, pesticides, solvents like paints or gasoline, dry cleaning chemicals, etc)

Illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine, misused prescription medications, amphetamines, PCP

Almost all prescription medications pass through breastmilk in at least a small capacity, though many are safe for the child breastfeeding.  Nonetheless, there are many very harmful medications that do pass through breastmilk - check out the links below.

Read about medications and breastmilk here.

Search medications here.

More info about safe meds and breastmilk

Learn more about milk sharing here.

For mothers in the military, milk sharing is a very real need.  Due to the challenges inherent in serving in the military, such as a lack of place and time to pump, many military mothers have low milk supply issues and must either resort to giving their babies formula or find human milk to supplement their own supplies.  They may be facing deployment or a long-term training scenario and will be…