HMBANA

In the News

One Reason Women Are Amazing

Most mothers of newborns produce enough milk to provide all of the nutrients their babies need. But when a baby arrives early, mother’s milk can be delayed.

For premature infants and other infants in need of special care, human milk provides the best protection against devastating infections.

Lactating women who find that they have more milk than their own baby needs are endowed with something extraordinary: the ability to help another baby thrive.

Why Bank Milk?

Some moms give their milk directly to the parents of babies in need, an exchange known as casual sharing. The intent behind casual sharing is wonderful – it’s a caring act of sisterhood. But we believe strongly that it’s important to go the extra mile to have the surplus milk tested in a lab to make absolutely sure that it’s safe for any baby. In addition to safety, our top priority is to make sure that donated milk reaches the most vulnerable infants first. We are working toward the day when we are able to collect enough milk to provide for all of the babies who need it.

Conference Brochure Call for Poster Abstracts

We are facing acute shortages of donations from moms. Right now, we simply do not have enough milk to feed all of the fragile newborns in the hospitals we serve.

How to Help

Donating is easy. To learn more, click here. Help us to spread the word. Share our message with your Facebook friends: Mothers who are blessed with extra milk can play a direct role in giving another child the best possible start in life.

Save the Date

CONFERENCE 2014 - Human Milk: evidence, strategies, and ethics in 2014. Victoria Empress April 28-29, Victoria BC Canada

Who We Are

We promote the health of babies and mothers through the provision of safe pasteurized donor milk and support of breastfeeding. Over the past 30 years, nonprofit milk banks have opened in cities across the United States and Canada.

Our milk banks receive surplus milk and dispense it after the donated milk is pasteurized and tested. Most of our recipients are infants in neo-natal intensive care units (NICUs).

WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT

Click Here to Download the Internationally Standardized Terminology for Human Milk

HMBANA agrees with the statement released by the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine calling for the American Academy of Pediatrics to cease its relationship with formula companies whose practices have negatively impacted breastfeeding. READ MORE

Pauline Sakamoto and Frances Jones visit the developing Northwest Mothers’ Milk Bank READ MORE

Quebec to launch public breast milk bank in spring 2014 READ MORE

International Consensus Statement on the Terminology, Coding and Labeling of Human Milk Donations READ MORE

2nd International Congress of the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA)ISTANBUL, 8th-9th NOVEMBER 2013 READ MORE

Montana Moms feeding Montana babies READ MORE

On January 20, 2011, U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin released The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding. Action 12 states, "Identify and address obstacles to greater availability of safe banked donor milk for fragile infants." HMBANA representatives met with the Surgeon General on that occasion.

The FDA Pediatric Advisory Committee endorsed donor human milk banking and deemed informal sharing of human milk to be unsafe. On December 6, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Pediatric Therapeutics convened a meeting of national experts, including directors of two HMBANA milk banks, to discuss the safety, ethics, and regulatory implications of donor human milk. See meeting agenda, briefing materials, and minutes on FDA website.