Breastmilk Donation as Care Work

The prevalence of human milk banks (HMBs) and the amount of donor breastmilk medically prescribed in neonatal intensive care units is steadily growing in Western Anglophone nations. This chapter argues that breastmilk donors engage in work and a significant amount of care in order to meet the requirements of the donation guidelines. Linking individual practices with class and motherhood ideologies, American sociologist Gerstein Pineau highlights the time and effort involved in producing breastmilk and the value the bottled breastmilk accrues as a symbol of the effortful regimes undertaken and of the commitment to one’s infant. In contrast, the second most prevalent donor category explicitly stated that they expressed breastmilk with the prime purpose of donation. Practices are shaped by wider social, political, and cultural influences, and, in the case of milk donors, these include broader motherhood and infant feeding discourses, cultural beliefs about breastmilk, interactions with HMB staff, and compliance with donation guidelines.