"So, whose milk was it? … It became all of ours, together": A relational autoethnographic study of an interactional
Ayelet Oreg1, Alison Stern Perez2, Shachar Timor-Shlevin1
1The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Abstract:
Most of the research on human milk donations after prenatal loss has focused on donations to milk banks in which donors and recipients are anonymous to each other. In contrast, in this Israel-based study, we focus on an ongoing, direct interaction between a bereaved donor and recipients who adopted a new baby. We conducted a relational autoethnography, wherein multiple researchers present their life experiences and interpersonal contexts and meanings. We suggest that directed, interactional bereaved milk donation allows both parties to assign symbolic meanings to the milk, which may help their grieving process and can create relational healing.
