Human Milk Banking in North America

Human Milk Banking In North America

A human 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". There are currently eleven milk banks in North America. They are usually housed in hospitals, although sometimes they are free standing. They are members of the Human Milk Bank Association of North America (HMBANA) and voluntarily abide by HMBANA's annually revised "Guidelines for the Establishment and Operation of a Donor Human Milk Bank." The guidelines were developed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and include protocols for soliciting donors, collecting, processing and distributing the milk. Some of these protocols are described below.

According to a joint statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF): "The best food for a baby who cannot be breastfed is milk expressed from the mother's breast or from another healthy mother. The best food for any baby whose own mother's milk is not available is the breastmilk of another healthy mother" (UNICEF, p. 48). "Where it is not possible for the biological mother to breast feed, the first alternative, if available, should be the use of human milk from other sources. Human milk banks should be made available in appropriate situations" (Wight, 2001).