Banking your milk for other babies
We’ve all heard that “breast is best” for babies, but not every woman can breastfeed. Some moms have had surgery or take medications that transfer to breast milk and are unsafe for the baby, or just don’t produce enough milk to sustain a baby. Some babies have severe allergies or a failure to thrive. Whatever the problem, moms might still be able to provide breast milk – just someone else’s.
Generations ago, women might bring in a wet nurse to help feed the baby. Not so much today. A donor milk bank is a service established for the purpose of collecting, screening, processing and distributing donated human milk to meet the specific medical needs of individuals for whom it is prescribed.
The Human Milk Banking Association of North America says donor milk banks receive milk from lactating mothers who have been carefully screened for health behaviors and communicable diseases, similarly to the way blood banks screen donors. Milk is transported to the milk bank frozen. It is heat-treated to kill any bacteria or viruses, processed and then refrozen. It is only dispensed after a sample is cultured and shows no bacteria growth. Milk is shipped frozen by overnight express to hospitals and to individual recipients at home.
The milk is dispensed by physician prescription or by hospital purchase order only. There is a processing fee charged to cover the expense of collecting, pasteurizing and dispensing the milk.
The mission of the National Milk Bank is to provide premature and critically-ill babies with the best possible nutrition for survival and healthy development. If you are interested in donating or wish to learn more, click on the links above.
Tags: breast milk, breastfeeding, breastmilk, donated human milk, infant nutrition, milk banking, newborn feeding
September 18th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
Moms wishing to donate to a nonprofit, processing donor human milk bank can find the milk bank closest to them by checking out the “Locations” tab at the Human Milk Banking Association of North America web site: http://www.hmbana.org All HMBANA milk banks process donor human milk for distribution in the form of pasteurized, donor milk for infants whose own mothers are unable to provide enough breastmilk for their infants.
As is listed on the Austin Mother’s Milk Bank site:
Why it Matters:
One in eight babies is born preterm.
Human milk is especially important for premature or sick babies, who are at 10 times the risk for devastating intestinal infections if they are fed formula instead of human milk.
Fewer than half of moms who deliver a baby prematurely are able to provide their babies with breast milk. Through donor milk, these preterm babies are still able to receive the benefits of breast milk to help them grow and thrive.
Some mothers of preterm and sick babies have health complications of their own or may need medications that prevent them from breastfeeding. Yet the babies of these moms are able to get many of the life-saving benefits of breastfeeding through donated human milk.
Human milk contains antibodies to fight disease and infection, and also protects against allergies.
Human milk contains growth hormones that help babies develop.
More human milk donors are needed at all North America milk banks to meet the critical need for pasteurized, donor milk for our most vulnerable infants. Please contact your closest bank to find out about becoming a milk donor.
Sincerely,
June Winfield, Board Chair
Northwest Mothers Milk Bank, Portland, OR
(A HMBANA Developing Milk Bank)