336 R.M. Shaw and M. Morgan
to encourage mothers to at least initiate breastfeeding. In this case, the
decision was made to advocate for the baby.
NICU donors have various motivations for gifting their surplus milk.
These include gratitude for their premature baby’s life and a sense of
obligation to give back to the NICU, identification with other moth-
ers of premature infants in the unit, and awareness of the benefits of
expressed breastmilk. Some donors are reassured about their milk being
screened and passing all the tests. For these mothers, who are particular
about hygiene and milk collection for their own infants, the validation
of their milk as uncontaminated and safe makes them happy and will-
ing to share.
Like deceased organ donation in New Zealand, confidentiality around
breastmilk donation is maintained between donor and recipient mothers
in the NICU. Notwithstanding confidentiality protocol, unit staff are
aware that some women appear to know who is receiving their milk or
who the donor is. The donors are often aware if their baby is in the same
room as the recipient baby and may see that their milk is being given to
that infant. Some will retain confidentiality, even though they may have
developed a relationship with the mother of the other baby receiving
their milk. One donor disclosed to Morgan, for example, that she found
it very satisfying to know her milk was being given to a very premature
baby of a young teenage mother who was an infrequent visitor to the
unit and had very little breastmilk for her baby. As she was in the same
room as the baby receiving the milk, the donor mother was able to see
the baby growing and thriving on her milk along with her own babies.
Conclusion
Breastmilk is a bodily fluid that has both positive and negative implica-
tions in terms of its transmission and social management as a biologi-
cal material and food with therapeutic qualities. Although the informal
and unregulated movement of breastmilk is officially frowned upon in
online settings and in the NICU, breastmilk donors often assert their
moral agency to donate against the epistemic authority of public health
mandates. By going against the normative grain, breastmilk donors
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