12 Towards Social Maternity: Where’s the Mother? ... 305restore social capital by building ‘bridging networks’; that is, by people
reaching beyond their familial, professional, or socio-economic group-
ings, in order to create a ‘generalized reciprocity’ ( 2000 : 21). It is pre-
cisely this ‘bridging network’ that MacDonald’s and his partner’s quest
for breastmilk achieves. As Rhonda Shaw has argued, cross-nursing also
provides this opportunity for building reciprocity and for extending
‘the boundaries of social maternity’ ( 2004 : 288). MacDonald’s situation
illustrates how the separation of gender and mothering leads to a separa-
tion of breastfeeding and breastmilk, added to the consequent involve-
ment of partners and acquaintances in feeding Jacob, which produces a
form of ‘social maternity’ at its best.
The emotional investment of others in MacDonald’s project suggests
a widely held desire to engage in caring activities, to form relationships
and to build a sense of community. Additionally, as the quote from
Gribble’s study shows, happiness and helping coincide. This has been
confirmed by studies showing a correlation between well-being and vol-
unteering, as well as social interaction more generally (Morrow-Howell
2003 ; Thoits and Hewitt 2001 ). As Gribble found:
more than a quarter of women who had initially engaged in milk sharing
by donating their surplus expressed breastmilk continued to express milk
specifically for donation. Respondents stated that it was the circumstances
of the recipient and knowing her and her child that motivated them to
continue... the specific knowledge of the need for milk can make addi-
tional expressed breastmilk available. ( 2014 : 254 [italics added])This indicates that a relationship is often formed as a result of milk
sharing, and knowledge of the parent or parents and baby encour-
ages the donor to continue helping. As MacDonald discovered, some
donors are motivated to assist beyond the point of their own conveni-
ence. Several had suffered from health problems, and one donor, Tara,
still experienced physical disabilities as a result of a previous illness. It
is perhaps because of this that Tara is particularly open to what Julie
Robert has termed ‘embodied philanthropy’ ( 2013 : 262).^12 Robert
coined this term to describe fund-raising efforts, through for example,
women shaping their pubic hair to raise awareness of cervical cancer for