These two women are breast friends.
One woman has revealed on TikTok that she lets her friend breastfeed her baby, earning a mix of praise and scorn from the TikTok community and pediatric health experts alike.
Content creator @gregariously_grace posted a video on Sunday showing her friend breastfeeding, writing, “When you’re a few drinks in so you let your friend nurse your baby.”
Grace, who has more than 105,500 followers on the video-sharing platform, has racked up more than 840,000 views on the original video as of Monday morning.
After one person commented, “I don’t get it, why is your friend breastfeeding your baby? You can have a drink and feed at the same time,” Grace posted a follow-up video with an explanation, which has gotten over 122,000 views.
She shared that her friend has a 7-month-old baby who is out of state for the weekend.
“I let her nurse him to strengthen his immune system and also to relieve her,” she wrote. “It is absolutely okay to drink and nurse, if you’re feeling sober enough to drive you can nurse.”
“I trust her to breastfeed my baby because she breastfeeds her own,” she continued.
TikTok users were torn on how they felt about the situation.
“Nope my baby more important than drinks,” one user declared as another chimed in, “Would never want anyone else to feed my baby. Guess I‘m a jealous mom.”
Some were more supportive: “When they say it takes a village … this is what they mean,” one more forgiving mama posted. “This is the most beautiful gesture ever,” another added.
One shocked commenter wrote: “Wow I’m surprised how many people support this, not sure I’d be keen but fair enough!”
Meanwhile, a recent American Academy of Pediatrics survey of 650 mothers found that more than 50 percent were not concerned about the safety of sharing breast milk.
However, the AAP does not encourage using informally shared breast milk, citing the risks of spreading disease — as well as potentially exposing an infant to medications, alcohol, drugs or other contaminants. According to AAP researchers, women should only supplement their own breast milk with formula or use donor milk that comes from a certified milk bank.
“Informal milk sharing is becoming increasingly popular and widespread,” Nikita Sood, a researcher at Cohen Children’s Medical Center/Northwell Health in New York, told Healthline. “It is therefore crucial that physicians become aware of this practice and the associated risks so that they can educate patients and address this growing concern.”
