Donate Breast Milk (to help premature babies)
The Hearts Milk Bank and UK Association of Milk Banks both list their hubs where women can donate breast milk. Usually produced on supply and demand (so you won’t run out for your own baby), this is (like blood) screened.
All donor milk (like blood) is screened after being pasteurised and is then frozen, and stored in medical grade freezers. Premature babies need high-fat milk to thrive, and where milk banks have been implemented in Brazil, child mortality rates have halved.
This is all run by experts, so you get questionnaires and blood test kits, and blood is tested for HIV and other diseases.
If a mother is unable to breastfeed, the next best thing is the breastmilk of another woman. Also in the heartbreaking situation where a family has lost a baby, some mothers choose to donate their breastmilk, in order to help another baby survive.
Every year, around 10% of babies are born too soon. For many of these infants, access to safe donor human milk can be life-changing. Offering essential protection and supporting healthier outcomes during their earliest, most vulnerable days. European Milk Bank Association
