Breastfeeding an adult for health benefits (NOT sexual fantasy)

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

Strangely enough (or not so) none of us actually thought it was a sexual fantasy - just a commonsense approach to boosting immunity and promoting health. 12 years ago I donated milk longterm for a 13 year old who had severe ulcerative colitis. Me and other mums expressed milk for her in Melbourne's South East suburbs - her condition improved markedly. Simple google searches will reveal similar stories.

[biomedstudent]

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone!

It just perplexes me sometimes, talking to people in the medical field who dole out drugs to everyone.. whether they have the sniffles or are in a bad mood and we don't seem to realise there are cures right under our noses.. (pun intended!)

I think we still have along way to go and I hope people can start to see the major issues relating to where we as a society are choosing to place our resources in the health field..

drugs don't cure people... people cure people

[HotI]

I would question why an adult would need to get the milk directly from the breast. Adults don't usually feel the need to get milk directly from a cow, and are happy enough with a glass, so i think this would also apply if they were having human breastmilk.

[ss_storm]

I think there'd be physcial limitations in regards to actually breastfeeding an adult. I've read (on BB) that kids lose the ability to feed effectively at the breast at a certain age (7+ years or something like that), so a bottle may be necessary anyway.

Yep..I wouldn't think it is possible for an adult/older child to breastfeed because they can't latch on properly like a baby, so it would have to be EBM.
I probably wouldn't...unless it was a close family member. More for practical reasons, I had difficulty trying to BF DD and found it hard enough trying to express for her, so I probably wouldn't express for someone else!

[LimeSlice]

There are African cultures where breastmilk of weaning mothers is given to adults with medical issues... I am sure the benefits would be immense in a medical setting, and if you remove the physical contact of an adult feeding another adult at the breast, then there would be no ethical issue.

[jesses_girl]

My milk is my gold lol Short answer no haha

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

Womens milk costs nothing and is given freely. There are billions of dollars in developing a pharmaceutical to *cure* something. Look at the recent backslapping about an oral rotavirus vaccine - which protects against 1 strain of rotavirus. Breastfeeding effectively protects against rotavirus.
I think, too, that we are starting a rumour about older children and adults losing the ability to feed. Through the ages women have breastfed milk to adults and children in need. Have a look at the Reubens painting Roman Charity where a young mother feeds her starving father in law in prison. Many of us know that our husbands have managed to work it out (or is that just TMI) I have known many 7, 8 and 9 year olds that breastfeed just fine - I think once again we are blinkered by our own cultural norms.

[MummaSue]

I'd most certainly donate my EBM to adults if it was going to help.

Providing I could express enough and my baby was getting plenty too.

[onthefly]

I stand corrected Barb!

[Twin Sister]

I've only just recently heard about this being done. There is a woman here in town (a friend of friends) with stage 4 lung cancer. A small group of my friend's are donating some of their extra breast milk to her in the hopes it will help (I think she makes it into smoothies). I'd be ok donating a bit too so long as I have enough for my little one.

[ezymay]

I have given my ebm to a friends mother who had cancer. If someone is willing to try it and it helps I don't see a problem with it.

[mummy of 3 boys]

I would be interested in this, providing i could EBM enough for them and also prividing i had plenty for my own childs needs

I had problems feeding my first so dunno what my chances would be, but yeah saying i was a good BF mother and could produce enough to also help with this by all means if it helps cure things

[tk1999]

I would give my EBM... I agree with ezymay, if someone is willing to try it then I don't have a problem with it.