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• Feb 24, 2011 - 01:23 PM
• Posted by Nancy Held
• Category Breastfeeding

Donating Breast Milk

Have you ever considered donating breast milk? Did you even know that you could?

You can donate milk with the help of a milk bank. Just like blood banks, milk banks provide a valuable resource. They focus on safety for the recipient, who in this case, are premature and sick babies.

To ensure safety, milk banks pasteurize the milk that you donate. This makes it a very different process than just giving a friend breast milk to use for her baby. Bacteria and viruses including HIV/AIDs and Hepatitis B can be transmitted to a baby through unprocessed donated milk, possibly causing harm.

Milk Banks have been helping premature and sick newborns thrive for over 100 years. And currently, there is an urgent need for donated breast milk across the nation.

The San Jose Milk Bank – a non-profit organization – is one of the few Human Milk Banks in the entire country. It’s an amazing resource that has tripled the amount of breast milk shipped to infants in need in the last 7 years. Last year, they shipped over 250,000 ounces of donor milk to babies throughout California and the West.

So, do you want to donate milk to the San Jose Milk Bank?

Read through their pre-screening requirements and see if you qualify to donate milk (even milk that’s been in the freezer for up to 5 months!)

Just like donating blood, donating your special breast milk is something you can feel really good about.

-Nancy Held, RN, MS, IBCLC, VP of Clinical and Educational Services

Tags: breastfeeding, breast milk donation, premature, sick babies, San Jose Milk Bank

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