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An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media

Sally Dowling Orcid Logo, Aimee Grant Orcid Logo

Maternal and Child Nutrition, Volume: 17, Issue: 3

Swansea University Author: Aimee Grant Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/mcn.13139

Abstract

Breastmilk sharing via the internet has become more popular in recent years, with a resultant increase in media attention. It is actively discouraged by public health bodies in at least three countries. We undertook a qualitative analysis of worldwide English language news media (online newspaper ar...

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Published in: Maternal and Child Nutrition
ISSN: 1740-8695 1740-8709
Published: Wiley 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56515
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spelling 2022-11-03T14:36:17.2882238 v2 56515 2021-03-24 An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2 0000-0001-7205-5869 Aimee Grant Aimee Grant true false 2021-03-24 PHAC Breastmilk sharing via the internet has become more popular in recent years, with a resultant increase in media attention. It is actively discouraged by public health bodies in at least three countries. We undertook a qualitative analysis of worldwide English language news media (online newspaper articles and transcripts of television and radio pieces) focusing on peer-to-peer breastmilk sharing during a 24-month period (2015–2016). One hundred eleven news articles were analysed semiotically for positive (n = 49) and negative (n = 90) depictions of breastmilk sharing and the actors involved. Three countries published the majority of the articles: United States (n = 42), United Kingdom (n = 24) and Australia (n = 20). Topics associated with using shared breastmilk included perceived insufficiency, having surgery or taking medication, or the prematurity of the baby. Reports of women who gave and received breastmilk were largely positive although sometimes confused with women who sell breastmilk, who were demonised. The breastmilk itself, however, was considered as potentially contaminated and possibly dangerous; calls for action (n = 33) focused on increasing regulation and safety. Peer-to-peer milk sharing and the commercial availability of human milk are activities that occur within social and cultural contexts, and, as such, the ways in which they are represented in the news media reflect the ways in which they are also represented more widely in society. Increased understanding of normal infant feeding practices is needed, alongside guidance on how to better support breastfeeding. News media outlets can facilitate this through reporting risk in line with evidence. Further research should be undertaken to understand the safety of breastmilk sharing and the experience of those who participate. Journal Article Maternal and Child Nutrition 17 3 Wiley 1740-8695 1740-8709 breastfeeding, breast milk, human milk, mass media, qualitative research, stigma 1 7 2021 2021-07-01 10.1111/mcn.13139 COLLEGE NANME Public Health COLLEGE CODE PHAC Swansea University 2022-11-03T14:36:17.2882238 2021-03-24T13:09:02.6895417 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Health and Social Care - Public Health Sally Dowling 0000-0002-2336-024x 1 Aimee Grant 0000-0001-7205-5869 2 56515__19656__5c1b2bd4965b4aeda4719198a1da36fb.pdf 56515.pdf 2021-04-15T16:17:35.9875422 Output 1268584 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media
spellingShingle An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media
Aimee Grant
title_short An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media
title_full An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media
title_fullStr An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media
title_full_unstemmed An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media
title_sort An ‘incredible community’ or ‘disgusting’ and ‘weird’? Representations of breastmilk sharing in worldwide news media
author_id_str_mv 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2_***_Aimee Grant
author Aimee Grant
author2 Sally Dowling
Aimee Grant
format Journal article
container_title Maternal and Child Nutrition
container_volume 17
container_issue 3
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 1740-8695
1740-8709
doi_str_mv 10.1111/mcn.13139
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Health and Social Care - Public Health{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Health and Social Care - Public Health
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description Breastmilk sharing via the internet has become more popular in recent years, with a resultant increase in media attention. It is actively discouraged by public health bodies in at least three countries. We undertook a qualitative analysis of worldwide English language news media (online newspaper articles and transcripts of television and radio pieces) focusing on peer-to-peer breastmilk sharing during a 24-month period (2015–2016). One hundred eleven news articles were analysed semiotically for positive (n = 49) and negative (n = 90) depictions of breastmilk sharing and the actors involved. Three countries published the majority of the articles: United States (n = 42), United Kingdom (n = 24) and Australia (n = 20). Topics associated with using shared breastmilk included perceived insufficiency, having surgery or taking medication, or the prematurity of the baby. Reports of women who gave and received breastmilk were largely positive although sometimes confused with women who sell breastmilk, who were demonised. The breastmilk itself, however, was considered as potentially contaminated and possibly dangerous; calls for action (n = 33) focused on increasing regulation and safety. Peer-to-peer milk sharing and the commercial availability of human milk are activities that occur within social and cultural contexts, and, as such, the ways in which they are represented in the news media reflect the ways in which they are also represented more widely in society. Increased understanding of normal infant feeding practices is needed, alongside guidance on how to better support breastfeeding. News media outlets can facilitate this through reporting risk in line with evidence. Further research should be undertaken to understand the safety of breastmilk sharing and the experience of those who participate.
published_date 2021-07-01T04:11:32Z
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