Alma Partida recognized that her breastfeeding journey was concluding in June. Having nursed her daughter, Alessa, for nearly 18 months—longer than the average duration in the United States—the process posed challenges, especially following Alessa’s emergency cesarean birth in February 2020. The difficulties persisted even after their hospital discharge.
Reflecting on this significant journey, the 29-year-old speech language pathologist from Watsonville, California, sought a meaningful way to commemorate its conclusion. While perusing a parenting Facebook group, Partida discovered a unique keepsake: a pendant containing a white stone crafted from breast milk. Intrigued, she decided to acquire one.
Breast milk jewelry may be a novel concept to some, but it joins a tradition of commemorative items incorporating organic matter. In the Victorian era, earrings and brooches made from human hair were in vogue, and more recently, synthetic diamonds have been created from cremation ashes. Parents often preserve umbilical cords and baby teeth as sentimental mementos.
Partida entrusted about 10 milliliters of her breast milk to Keepsakes by Grace, a company she discovered on Facebook. Approximately a month later, she received a heart-shaped pendant with a milky-white hue, symbolizing the culmination of her breastfeeding journey.
Lactation consultant Freda Rosenfeld acknowledged the desire to memorialize the breastfeeding experience, emphasizing its special significance in people’s lives. Sarah Castillo, the 25-year-old owner of Keepsakes by Grace, noted that many of her clients turn to breast milk jewelry during challenging nursing experiences or when deciding to wean.
Castillo’s method involves dehydrating the breast milk to create a powder, which is then mixed with resin to form a stone. The resulting jewelry, priced between $60 and $150, holds sentimental value, literally encapsulating a memory.
Ann Marie Sharoupim, founder of Mamma’s Liquid Love, echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing the trend of seeking jewelry with meaningful connections. She advised customers to care for their breast milk jewelry as they would pearls, keeping it dry and minimizing exposure to chemicals.
For some parents, breast milk jewelry serves as a way to cope with loss. Rebecca Zuick, a 31-year-old software development student in San Antonio, shared her experience of purchasing a ring with a breast milk stone to commemorate the end of breastfeeding her son, Asher, and to cope with the stillbirth she endured in July 2015.
While the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend breastfeeding for the first six months, many mothers face challenges due to work constraints, particularly in the United States, where national paid maternity leave is absent.
Jacqueline Wolf, a professor of the history of medicine, sees breast milk jewelry as symbolic of the challenges faced by mothers who may not have the privilege of flexible work schedules or paid maternity leave. The jewelry becomes a tangible acknowledgment of these societal injustices.
