Biomedical Ethics and Peer-to-Peer Milk Sharing

Abstract

The facilitation of peer-to-peer milk sharing via the Internet has proven challenging to many health professionals and organizations. Biomedical ethics can be used to explore medical dilemmas and find reasoned, consistent, and defensible solutions to moral problems. The principles of biomedical ethics – autonomy, veracity, beneficence, nonmaleficence, confidentiality, and justice – are applied to peer-to-peer milk sharing in this article. Application of these principles provides guidance to assist lactation consultants to act ethically in their interactions with mothers and others around the peer sharing of milk.