These fragile babies will survive and thrive thanks to the generosity of human milk donors who give the critical nourishment they need. If you know a mom who has more milk than her baby needs, please refer her to our Donor Relations team to start the process of sharing her gift of life.
Contact us at or mothersmilk rmchildren. Human milk saves lives! Every day is a good day to save tiny humans and during the winter months these babies with undeveloped immune systems are especially vulnerable to infections. Simultaneously, milk donations tend to slow down during this time. We are now accepting orders for donor human milk recipients. To learn more about buying donor breast milk, please visit our Buy Milk page.
Babies who receive the milk may be premature or have severe illnesses and need human milk to thrive. Why — The health benefits received from using human milk breast milk for newborns, especially premature newborns, cannot be replicated by any commercial formula product. Breast milk contains antibodies to protect children against infections and diseases, while helping them to grow and their brains to develop. Giving donor breast milk to sick or premature babies helps nourish them and protect them from disease.
Research shows that, compared with infant formula , human donor milk can reduce the risk of infections and a severe gut disorder in low birth weight babies. But a baby does not have to be 'premmie' or low birth weight to receive donor breast milk. Donor milk can help when a baby is born via a surrogate , is adopted or fostered , or is the child of same-sex parents.
Usually, breastfeeding women express breast milk, freeze it and deliver it to the milk bank. Sometimes the milk bank can pick it up. Formal milk banks screen women to make sure they are healthy see 'Is donor breast milk safe? The milk bank may supply sterilised collection bottles, labels and breast pumps, and will provide instructions for women on how to transport and store the milk safely.
The milk bank pasteurises the milk to kill any viruses or bacteria. Milk banks do not pay donors. These milk banks provide human donor milk to hospital neonatal intensive care units NICUs in Australia:. It is also possible to source donor breast milk informally, through social media networks. These groups put parents in touch with donors and they share breast milk privately.
But there are some important safety issues to consider. Breast milk is a human bodily fluid that can, in rare cases, transmit viruses like HIV and hepatitis C , bacteria and other germs.
Although there have been very few cases of adverse events in babies being given donor breast milk, formal milk banks must test and pasteurise donor breast milk to make sure there is nothing in it that could harm a baby. They also screen donors to make sure they do not have any medical conditions or lifestyle factors that could affect their breast milk. Donor breast milk from private networks, however, is not properly processed or pasteurised.
The networks typically provide guidelines about screening donors and storing and transporting breast milk safely. Milk banks typically use donors whose own babies are under 7 months and who have not started on solids.
It is usually best to wait until breastfeeding is well established, 4 to 6 weeks after birth. If you have a lot of extra milk that you have expressed and frozen, contact your nearest milk bank to see if they would like to take it. The milk bank will do a blood test and ask you questions about your lifestyle — as though you were donating blood.
Here are some examples of what you might be asked:. Sick and premature babies need extra nutrition and fluids so they can 'catch up' in terms of growth. Breast milk is best, but it is not always an option for parents. Special formula designed for pre-term babies will also meet their nutritional needs if the mother is unable to, or chooses not to, breastfeed. For other babies, commercial infant formulas contain enough nutrients for healthy growth. Formula is the only safe milk alternative to breast milk for babies under 12 months.
Starting in , human milk banks began to figure as strategic components of efforts to promote, protect and support breastfeeding and, in , the Brazilian Network of Human Milk Banks was established under a public health policy whose main objective was to reduce infant mortality. In conjunction with local technological development and training, academic work to build knowledge in this area was undertaken. Although human milk banks can play a very significant role in promoting a second-best option for newborns if their mothers cannot breastfeed them, it is very important for such systems to function as part of a comprehensive programme for the defence, promotion and support of breastfeeding.
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