Perception and management of risk in Internet based peer-to-peer milk-sharing

The perception and management of the risks of peer-to-peer milk sharing was explored via a written questionnaire administered to 97 peer milk donors and 41 peer milk recipients who were recruited via Facebook. All recipients' respondents were aware that there were risks associated with using peer-shared milk and took action to mitigate these risks; however, their knowledge and risk mitigation was incomplete. Recipient respondents were well informed as to the risks involved in artificial feeding and this contributed to their decision to prefer peer-shared milk. Many donor respondents did not follow guidelines for safe milk expression. Many respondents had not discussed milk sharing with a health provider. It is recommended that health providers be proactive in providing education to minimise the risks of peer-to-peer milk sharing. This is the first study to examine the views and practices of Internet-facilitated peer-to-peer milk sharing and provides insight that may improve the safety of the practice.