Mothers are turning to a global online community to receive excess breast milk stockpiled by strangers.
‘Milksharing’ is a phenomena that encourages women to donate breast milk to other mothers who struggle to provide enough nutrients to their own children.
The milk exchange is orchestrated on a number of Facebook pages, where mothers can request milk in their local area.
One of the most common milksharing Facebook communities is Human Milk 4 Human Babies (HM4HB).
Rosie from Beerwah, QLD, said she connected with the Facebook page after her sister-in-law struggled with a slow supply.
Mothers are turning to a global online community to receive excess breast milk stockpiled by strangers
Rosie from Beerwah, QLD, supplied about 80 per cent of her niece’s needs after feeding her own children (pictured)
Rosie, who was ‘blessed with an oversupply’, could supplement about 80 per cent of her niece’s needs after feeding her own children.
When her niece grew older and needed more milk, she went online to the HM4HB page to help acquire an extra donor.
‘I’m just blown away by how many mums are willing to donate to total strangers, and not expect anything in return!’ Rosie told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I did it because she is my niece, but the other women on the page are so inspiring, I will definitely keep donating to other bubs once my niece doesn’t need me anymore.’
Rosie suggested the platform was a way to move past the increasing demand for baby formula.
‘If it wasn’t for the community and especially the Facebook page, there would be so many bubs put on formula unnecessarily, when there are so many mums who are more than happy to donate!’
Regular donor Melanie Nichol (pictured), 22, told Daily Mail Australia she has donated over 100 litres of breast milk to the hospital and HM4HB over the past year
‘It got to the stage where I had two deep freezers full of frozen milk and I couldn’t store any more so I made a post in the group to see if anyone was interested,’ Ms Nichol said (Pictured: Ms Nichol’s stock of frozen breast milk)
‘It connects a need with a solution, where previously they would have no means of connecting.’
Regular donor Melanie Nichol, 22, told Daily Mail Australia she has donated more than 100 litres of breast milk to a hospital and HM4HB over the past year.
Ms Nichol’s milksharing journey began earlier this year when her daughter was a few months old.
After donating more than 25 litres to the milk bank at the hospital, a friend told her about the online community.
‘It got to the stage where I had two deep freezers full of frozen milk and I couldn’t store any more so I made a post in the group to see if anyone was interested,’ she said.
‘I was blown away by how many mums in need there were in my local area.
‘My daughter started her journey in intensive care and I saw such tiny babies during her stay that were being fed donor milk so it just made sense to me to do my bit to help out those in need,’ she said.
‘I do think it’s great that there is a way for mums to feed their babies breast milk if they are struggling though,’ Ms Nichol (pictured) said
Ms Nichol said she wishes there were more regulations in place for the online communities as donors are not required to undergo medical checks.
Ms Nichol added she has experienced some negative comments about milksharing but believes a lot of it ‘stems from a lack of education’.
‘I do think it’s great that there is a way for mum’s to feed their babies breast milk if they are struggling though,’ Ms Nichol said.
Lauren Price, another member of community, said she had donated and relied on others’ donations over the last three years.
Ms Price attempted to breastfeed her now two-and-a-half-years-old when she was born, but her supply quickly declined and she couldn’t keep up with her daughter’s demands.
‘I wanted her to have exclusive breast milk for at least the first 6 months of her life,’ she said.
‘We reached out on the HM4HB page and had a regular donation from a lovely lady in Brisbane.’
The milk exchange is orchestrated on a number of Facebook pages where mothers can request milk in their local area as well as notify when they have milk on offer (pictured)
Ms Price now has a six-month-old daughter who is exclusively breastfed.
‘In fact I have so much milk this time around, by six weeks post-partum I had 90 bags of breast milk already frozen,’ she said.
‘I usually pump and freeze everything before having a huge donation every two or so months to a few mum’s on the page.’
‘So far I’ve donated probably 100 litres of breast milk.’
Ms Price said the communities are a great way to share information on motherhood.
‘All the mums are really open about what their milk may have come in contact with, either medications or alcohol etc as well as diet,’ Ms Price added.
Another mother, Jaq Greenhalgh, became inspired to donate on the Facebook page after struggling with her first birth in 2014.
Another mother, Jaq Greenhalgh (pictured pregnant with her second child), became inspired to donate on the Facebook page after struggling with her first birth in 2014
After Ms Greenhalgh’s supply dropped, she was forced to feed her son the bottle because he had difficulties gaining weight.
When she had her second child in 2016, Jaq wanted to assist those facing difficulties.
‘Knowing the troubles I had before, I was keen to make sure they didn’t happen again,’ she said.
‘After my son was weaned, I found these sites for ladies who wanted to feed donated breast milk to their babies.’
‘I pumped and pumped and stored all I could,’ she said.
HM4HB is a global network dedicated to fostering a community of milksharing.
‘Breast milk, the biologically normal sustenance for humankind, is a free-flowing resource and mothers of the world are willing to share it,’ the Facebook page said.
‘Milksharing is a vital tradition that has been taken from us, and it is crucial that we regain trust in ourselves, our neighbors, and in our fellow women.’
When she had her second child in 2016, Jaq (pictured) wanted to assist those facing difficulties