When talking about breastfeeding, the image of the nurses who breastfed other people's babies immediately comes to mind. Something similar is what it does Eats on Feets, a global network present in several countries, for some months with a presence in Spain, dedicated to the donation of human milk between families.
The meeting space is through Facebook, where families who wish to donate and / or receive breast milk are contacted. Of course, an ingenious use of the social network in the service of solidarity and the promotion of breastfeeding.
The reality is that for various circumstances there are women who cannot feed or continue feeding their baby with their own milk, but also want to offer the benefits of breast milk. That is why they are looking for other mothers who are breastfeeding and willing to donate their milk.
The exchange is totally free. It is a platform that allows those looking for mothers of milk to get in touch with those who have surplus milk or women willing to extract it to provide it to other babies in a selfless way, without any economic revenue.
Eats on Feets It provides educational resources and serves as a space for relationships to be created, but does not decide who gives the milk to whom. That is a decision each family must make responsibly after considering various aspects. One of the considerations to take into account is the location of the donor or recipient since the proximity is very well valued.
On the other hand, and one of the most criticized points of the initiative, is the safety of milk. It is not a milk bank, but milk manipulated at home and from women whose habits are unknown, so many mothers fear a possible contamination, whether due to poor conservation, risk of disease transmission, spread by bacteria , drugs, alcohol, etc.
The system is based on ethics and informed decision making by both parties. The receiving families are responsible for choosing the donor mother. For this a series of type questions are suggested to know it better, you can even request a blood test.
I think it's a great initiative to create a solidarity network of mothers who exchange breast milk. Not only fresh and lively food is shared, but love, generosity and gratitude.
Milk banks are aimed at premature babies or newborns who require intensive care, but are not available to healthy “street” children whose mothers cannot feed them. Eats in Feets it comes to cover a need by facilitating through Facebook a platform for the donation of human milk between families.
