Introduction

Breastmilk is often accorded deep religious significance, sitting high on
the symbolic hierarchy of bodily fluids for its cleansing, healing, and life-
giving properties. In Christian iconography, for example, the image of
baby Jesus suckling at his mother’s breast is read as a metaphor for spir-
itual sustenance from the Church (Bartlett 2005 ). Yet breastmilk’s status
as ‘liquid gold’ is not absolute. Because bodily fluids are deeply connected
to the social body and the body politic, they can have both negative and
positive implications. In the donative context, breastmilk is viewed as both
a cure and a poison. Although breastmilk has immunological benefits for
the vulnerable, sick, and ailing, discussions about its curative capacity

13

Bio-Intimate Economies of Breastmilk

Exchange: Peer-Milk Sharing and Donor

Breastmilk in the NICU

Rhonda M. Shaw and Maggie Morgan

© The Author(s) 2017
R.M. Shaw (ed.), Bioethics Beyond Altruism,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55532-4_13

319

R.M. Shaw (*)
Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
e-mail: [email protected]

M. Morgan
Wellington Regional Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand