Breastmilk donation

A human milk bank or breast milk bank is a service which collects, screens, processes, and dispenses by prescription human milk donated by nursing mothers who are not biologically related to the recipient infant. The optimum nutrition for newborn infants is breastfeeding, if possible, for the first year. Human milk banks offer a solution to the mothers that cannot supply their own breast milk to their child, for reasons such as a baby being at risk of getting diseases and infections from a mother with certain diseases, or when a child is hospitalized at birth due to very low birth weight (and thus at risk for conditions such as necrotizing enterocolitis), and the mother cannot provide her own milk during the extended stay for reasons such as living far from the hospital.

Human milk banks had an increase in the amount of milk collected in 2012 compared to 2007, in addition the amount of milk donated by each donor had also increased. Mothers' Milk Bank (MMB) says, this service provides mothers with an alternative to infant formula and allows the mother to give their newborn the nutrition it needs for healthy growth. The International Milk Banking Initiative (IMBI), was founded at the International HMBANA Congress in 2005. It lists 33 countries with milk bank programs. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that the first alternative to a biological mother not being able to breast feed is the use of human milk from other sources.

A donor must:

More requirements may apply. For example, the requirements in Australia can be found at: http://jhl.sagepub.com/content/2/1/20.full.pdf

Some concerns that surround human milk bank include:

After the milk has been donated the primary consumer of the milk are premature babies; other consumers include adults with medical complications or conditions. The main reason why premature babies consume donor milk is that the mother cannot provide milk for the baby. The donor milk therefore acts as a substitute.

Human milk banks offer families a chance to provide their child with reliable and healthy milk from other mothers. Human milk banks are needed as they offer milk which mostly is consumed by children whose mothers are not able to provide them with reliable milk.

Brazil has an extensive network of 210 milk banks. In 2011, 165,000 litres (5,580,000 fl oz US) of breast milk were donated by some 166,000 mothers, and provided to nearly 170,000 babies. The Brazilian and Ibero-American Network of Human Milk Banks coordinates these efforts. Donors must be healthy and not taking any medication. The Brazil effort is part of an effort that has reduced infant mortality in the country by 73% since the 1990s.

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Wikipedia