The Ethics of Feeding Newborn Babies From Breastfeeding to Milk Banks : Islamic Perspectives

The thesis explores the ethics of feeding newborn babies, focusing on breastfeeding, donor milk, and milk banks, from an Islamic perspective. Using an interdisciplinary method, this thesis discusses several ethical questions and permissibility of establishing milk banks in Muslim countries.

Human Milk is recognized as the optimal nutritional choice for newborns and is the preferred source of nourishment during the first six months after birth. In addition, Human Milk contains significant immunomodulatory and bioactive compounds that safeguard infants from infection, promote a robust immune system, and improve long-term cardiovascular, neurocognitive, and metabolic outcomes. In comparison to formula-fed infants, human milk exhibits reduced incidence of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. The utilization of human donor milk (D. M.) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has effectively mitigated the incidence of various deleterious and fatal complications associated with preterm birth, such as necrotizing enterocolitis.

With these benefits, lactating women were encouraged to donate their excess milk for the purpose of feeding premature and ill infants with the advancements in technology and hygiene. The concept of collecting human milk has developed into a highly efficient system of functional milk banks, ameliorating the growing challenge of retaining wet nurses since the early 20th century and the constraints of relying on artificial formula. However, religious and ethical concerns have made it difficult for Muslim nations to develop economies based on human milk. Although Islam, as a religio-moral tradition, acknowledges breast milk as a natural and beneficial source of nutrition for children and breastfeeding is mentioned in many Quranic verses, the issue of donating and receiving human milk has raised several questions for Muslims.

These ethical questions have implications that intersect various scholarly disciplines, including Islamic theology and jurisprudence. Many ethical questions triggered by this practice relate to the concept of (milk) kinship and lineage. For example, what are the bases and conditions for establishing milk-based kinship, such as the quantity of milk and the number of breastfeeding sessions? Is feeding infant milk from the modern institution of a milk bank analogous to the century-old tradition of breastfeeding? What is the difference between getting a wet nurse to feed an infant directly from her breast and getting milk from a milk bank? Would it be problematic if the milk donor is unknown in the milk bank institution? How can improper marriages between milk siblings be prevented? Based on their responses to these questions, Muslim scholars adopt a certain position regarding the (imp)permissibility of establishing milk banks in Muslim countries.

Once establishing a milk bank would be judged as permissible in principle, other ethical questions would also arise, e.g., would it be acceptable to give the women "donating” their breast milk to the bank a financial compensation from the bank or other (state-funded) institutions? Who should be prioritized to receive the available milk? Addressing such questions is the focus of this study, which shows the historical awareness of the shift from traditional breastfeeding to the modern milk banking system.