Thursday 19 January 2012

Udder madness!

"Breast milk, to be specific human milk, is the milk produced by the breasts (or mammary glands) of a human female for her infant offspring. Milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborns before they are able to eat and digest other foods; older infants and toddlers may continue to be breastfed, either exclusively or in combination with other foods."  Unknown. (2012). Human Breast Milk. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_breast_milk. Last accessed 19th January 2012



Perhaps one of the most natural events in the world is that of a mother feeding her newborn baby with the milk that her body has produced for that child. But what about a mother feeding another young mother's child? Is this socially acceptable? What about a mother expressing milk for her pals to taste? 

A friend of mine at work who has just given birth to a lovely baby boy, recently celebrated her birthday. While around friends under the influence of alcoholic beverages, she did exactly that. One by one the friends around her tasted her milk. When I heard of this I was quite disgusted to be frank but when I asked myself why I was disgusted, I couldn't really back up my opinion with a valid reason.

Most of us drink cow milk everyday; on our cereal, in our tea. It really is one of the most versatile ingredients in the kitchen. What most of us try to block out is the fact this milk had to be squeezed out of a cow's wobbly bits! 

Why is it okay for us to drink another species milk which nature intended for its calves but the idea of drinking another human's milk past the age of two is absolutely 'disgusting' and actually quite a taboo topic.

I realise I've asked a lot of questions in this blog post and I don't have any answers for them but I would love to hear any opinions on the topic so please leave a comment!