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Breast Milk Donation in the Muslim Population: Why It Is Possible

Received: 28 January 2018     Accepted: 5 March 2018     Published: 30 March 2018
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Abstract

Some mothers have negative ideas about human milk donation, especially in the Muslim population, because of the «milk brother-sister» concept, whereas infants are often in need of human milk. A mother delivered a very low birth-weight infant of 500 g after 26 weeks of amenorrhea. She was able to collect 200 mL of milk per day by four days after birth, 500ml/day after seven, and then up to 1.5 L/day. At the end of the hospitalization, the milk bank asked her if she was willing to donate her milk. She first refused to offer her milk for donation because of the «brother milk» concept. After discussion, the milk-bank team managed to convince the mother to donate the 179 Liters of milk not used by her baby. The two issues that may arise for a Muslim are whether they allowed to donate their own milk and whether their infant can receive donated milk. These issues were addressed by: i) performing a literature review covering all points of view of the religion concerning human milk donation, ii) seeking the expertise of religious figures, and iii) examining biological and genetic issues. Thus, religious, cultural, biological, and epigenetic aspects all support milk donation by Muslim mothers to milk banks and allow children to receive donated milk. Milk banks should be created in Muslim countries to promote the health of pre-term infants.

Published in American Journal of Pediatrics (Volume 4, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13
Page(s) 12-14
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Human Milk Bank, Muslim, Milk Donation, Preterm, Breastfeeding

References
[1] Ghaly M. Milk banks through the lens of Muslim scholars: one text in two contexts. Bioethics. 2012: 26: 1 17-27.
[2] Alnakshabandi K, Fiester A. Creating religiously compliant milk banks in the Muslim world: a commentary. Paediatrics and International Child Health. 2016; 36: 4-6.
[3] Ozkan H, Tuzun F, Kumral A, DumanN, Milk kinship hypothesis in light of epigenetic knowledge. ClinicalEpigenetics. 2012; 18: 4-14.
[4] Witwer KW, Hirschi KD. Transfer and functional consequences of dietary microRNAs in vertebrates: concepts in search of corroboration: negative results challenge the hypothesis that dietary xenomiRs cross the gut and regulate genes in investing vertebrates, but important questions persist. Bioessays. 2014; 36: 394-406.
[5] Dickinson B, Zhang Y, Petrick JS, Heck G, Ivashuta S, Marshall WS. Lack of detectable oral bioavailability of plant microRNAs after feeding in mice. Nature Biotechnology. 2013; 31: 965-7.
[6] Kosaka N, Izumi H, Sekine K, Ochiya T. microRNA as a new immune-regulatory agent in breast milk. Silence. 2010; 1: 1 -7.
[7] Zhou Qi, Li M, Wang X, Li Q, Wang T, Zhu Q, Zhou X, Wang X, Gao X, Li X. Immune-related micro RNAs are abundant in breast milk exosomes. International Journal of Biological Sciences. 2012; 8: 1 18-23.
[8] Karadag A, Ozdemir R, Ak M, Ozer A, Dogan DG, Elkiran O. Human milk banking and milk kinship: Perspectives of mothers in a Muslim country. J Trop Pediatr. 2015; 61:188-96.
[9] Ozdemir R, Ak M, Karatas M, Ozer A, Dogan DG, Karadag A. Human milk banking and milk kinship: perspectives of religious officers in a Muslim country. J Perinatol. 2015; 35:137-41.
[10] Williams TC, Butt MZ, Mohinuddin SM, Ogilvy-Stuart AL, Clarke M, Weaver GA, Shafi MS. Donor human milk for Muslim infants in the UK. Journal of Biology and science. 2012; 8; 1 18-23.
[11] Khalil A, Buffin R, Sanlaville D, Picaud JC. Milk kinship is not an obstacle to using donor human milk to feed preterm infants in Muslim countries. Acta Paediatr. 2016; 105:462-7.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Virginie Rigourd, Muriel Nicloux, Agnès Giuseppi, Stéphanie Brunet, Daniel Vaiman, et al. (2018). Breast Milk Donation in the Muslim Population: Why It Is Possible. American Journal of Pediatrics, 4(1), 12-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13

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    ACS Style

    Virginie Rigourd; Muriel Nicloux; Agnès Giuseppi; Stéphanie Brunet; Daniel Vaiman, et al. Breast Milk Donation in the Muslim Population: Why It Is Possible. Am. J. Pediatr. 2018, 4(1), 12-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13

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    AMA Style

    Virginie Rigourd, Muriel Nicloux, Agnès Giuseppi, Stéphanie Brunet, Daniel Vaiman, et al. Breast Milk Donation in the Muslim Population: Why It Is Possible. Am J Pediatr. 2018;4(1):12-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13,
      author = {Virginie Rigourd and Muriel Nicloux and Agnès Giuseppi and Stéphanie Brunet and Daniel Vaiman and Rafik TerkiHassaine and Sabrina Jébali and Zalfa Kanaan and Azzedine Ayachi},
      title = {Breast Milk Donation in the Muslim Population: Why It Is Possible},
      journal = {American Journal of Pediatrics},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1},
      pages = {12-14},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajp.20180401.13},
      abstract = {Some mothers have negative ideas about human milk donation, especially in the Muslim population, because of the «milk brother-sister» concept, whereas infants are often in need of human milk. A mother delivered a very low birth-weight infant of 500 g after 26 weeks of amenorrhea. She was able to collect 200 mL of milk per day by four days after birth, 500ml/day after seven, and then up to 1.5 L/day. At the end of the hospitalization, the milk bank asked her if she was willing to donate her milk. She first refused to offer her milk for donation because of the «brother milk» concept. After discussion, the milk-bank team managed to convince the mother to donate the 179 Liters of milk not used by her baby. The two issues that may arise for a Muslim are whether they allowed to donate their own milk and whether their infant can receive donated milk. These issues were addressed by: i) performing a literature review covering all points of view of the religion concerning human milk donation, ii) seeking the expertise of religious figures, and iii) examining biological and genetic issues. Thus, religious, cultural, biological, and epigenetic aspects all support milk donation by Muslim mothers to milk banks and allow children to receive donated milk. Milk banks should be created in Muslim countries to promote the health of pre-term infants.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Breast Milk Donation in the Muslim Population: Why It Is Possible
    AU  - Virginie Rigourd
    AU  - Muriel Nicloux
    AU  - Agnès Giuseppi
    AU  - Stéphanie Brunet
    AU  - Daniel Vaiman
    AU  - Rafik TerkiHassaine
    AU  - Sabrina Jébali
    AU  - Zalfa Kanaan
    AU  - Azzedine Ayachi
    Y1  - 2018/03/30
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13
    T2  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    JF  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    JO  - American Journal of Pediatrics
    SP  - 12
    EP  - 14
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-0909
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajp.20180401.13
    AB  - Some mothers have negative ideas about human milk donation, especially in the Muslim population, because of the «milk brother-sister» concept, whereas infants are often in need of human milk. A mother delivered a very low birth-weight infant of 500 g after 26 weeks of amenorrhea. She was able to collect 200 mL of milk per day by four days after birth, 500ml/day after seven, and then up to 1.5 L/day. At the end of the hospitalization, the milk bank asked her if she was willing to donate her milk. She first refused to offer her milk for donation because of the «brother milk» concept. After discussion, the milk-bank team managed to convince the mother to donate the 179 Liters of milk not used by her baby. The two issues that may arise for a Muslim are whether they allowed to donate their own milk and whether their infant can receive donated milk. These issues were addressed by: i) performing a literature review covering all points of view of the religion concerning human milk donation, ii) seeking the expertise of religious figures, and iii) examining biological and genetic issues. Thus, religious, cultural, biological, and epigenetic aspects all support milk donation by Muslim mothers to milk banks and allow children to receive donated milk. Milk banks should be created in Muslim countries to promote the health of pre-term infants.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France

  • Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France

  • Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France

  • Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France

  • Epigenetic and Physiopathology of Reproduction, Cochin Hospital, Paris, France

  • West Algerian Pediatric Society, Oran, Algeria

  • Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France

  • Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, France

  • Intercommunal André Grégoire Hospital, Montreuil, France

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