Nearly three-quarters of samples from an Internet milk-sharing site contained microbes that could make a baby sick
WebMD News from HealthDay
By Brenda Goodman
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Even after working with several nursing experts, first-time mom Katie Sweet wasn't able to make enough of her own breast milk to feed her newborn daughter.
And she said her baby just didn't do well on formula.
"Honestly, my daughter is a completely different girl on breast milk. She has less stomach issues, she sleeps better and seems more alert," said Sweet, an insurance agent in Grand Junction, Colo.
For a few months, she was able to keep her daughter on a breast-milk diet with the help of two local friends who were making more milk than they needed. But when those women weaned their own infants, her supply ran out, leaving her desperate to find more.
"I would do anything to make sure she got what she needed to be happy," Sweet said.
Like growing numbers of women who've gotten the message that breast milk is the best possible food for babies, but who find themselves unable to supply their own, she turned to the Internet.
She placed a classified ad offering to buy breast milk from a stranger on a website set up to connect people who want to sell their breast milk with others looking to purchase it.
"My husband and I did a lot of research and felt comfortable with the decision to purchase milk," Sweet said.
Her comfort turned to concern, however, as she learned of the findings of a new study that tested raw breast milk bought through the Internet.
The researchers did not name the specific websites used in their study but said the contaminated samples came from a U.S. milk-sharing website that uses a classified ad format.
Of 101 samples purchased anonymously, nearly three-quarters of the samples contained bacteria that could make a baby sick, including three batches that tested positive for salmonella.
"There should not be salmonella in human milk," said Dr. Kathleen Marinelli, chair of the United States Breastfeeding Committee, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C.
Salmonella and other kinds of gram-negative bacteria, which were the most common types found in the study, normally live in a person's gut.
"That tells me that the person who pumped that milk used very bad hygiene. Essentially, they didn't wash their hands after using the toilet," said Marinelli, who was not involved in the study.
None of the samples tested positive for HIV (the AIDS virus), which can be passed through breast milk. But one in five tested positive for another virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV.
CMV is common -- somewhere between 50 percent and 80 percent of people have had CMV by the time they're 40, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
source : Breast Milk Bought Online May Contain Harmful Germs: Study
