Canadian Pediatric Society Calls for More Human Milk Banks

What to do when mothers can’t produce enough breast milk – especially for babies at risk? If you’re in Canada- that’s a problem At the moment, Canada only has one human milk bank, located in Vancouver. Canadian babies in need of breastmilk often have to import it from an HMBANA milk bank in the United States.

This month, the Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) issued a statement calling for the creation of more human milk banks in Canada. According to the CPS press release:

“The most vulnerable babies should receive human milk,” said Dr. Sharon Unger, principal author of the statement and member of the CPS Nutrition and Gastroenterology Committee. “Only about half of the mothers of these babies will have an adequate milk supply, sometimes because they are sick themselves, or due to the stress of having a very sick baby or from being separated from their baby.”

“Pasteurized human donor breast milk should only be provided to a baby following informed consent from a parent or guardian and if it is prescribed by a health care worker. It’s important for parents to be aware that donor milk is a recommended alternative to formula for sick hospitalized neonates,” said Dr. Unger. “The key is parental choice.”

It is obviously preferred that infants receive their own mother’s breastmilk. However, when the mother does not have adequate supply or is unable to breastfeed (e.g. due to medication incompatible with breastfeeding), pasteurized human milk is the recommended method of feeding hospitalized newborns in the NICU.

The recommendations made by the CPS include:

The use of pasteurized human donor breast milk should be prioritized to compromised preterm infants and selected ill term newborns.
Milk banking should be adopted as a cost-effective nutritional source for hospitalized neonates because it reduces disease incidence and severity, thus reducing resource use during the hospitalization.
The Canadian Paediatric Society does not endorse the sharing of unprocessed human milk.

Have you donated breastmilk before? If there were a breastmilk bank in your area, would you consider donating?

Image credit: Daquella manera on flickr

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Barbara E.

6:14PM PST on Jan 4, 2011

Thanx for the post.

send a green star

Leia P.

6:59PM PST on Nov 23, 2010

wow.. great idea. i wonder if we could even get this to the third world

Jennifer M.

2:41PM PST on Nov 22, 2010

This is awesome!! More moms should know about this. I would so do it if I'm not able to breastfeed.
And Steve R, your comment about vegans is extremely distasteful. Obviously you have no idea what it means to be vegan. Women aren't forced to give their milk, like animals are. How about leaving those comments in your head? So disrespectful.

perlette a.

3:52AM PST on Nov 19, 2010

thanks for the info.

Julia W.

9:05AM PST on Nov 18, 2010

This is a great idea! These should be *everywhere*!

But I'm asking seriously, why pasteurized breast milk? It seems counterintuitive.

Tina S.

5:47AM PST on Nov 18, 2010

This is a very good idea.

Rose N.

6:04PM PST on Nov 17, 2010

Thank you for posting.

Karen W.

5:58PM PST on Nov 17, 2010

Much better for the child

April T.

4:00PM PST on Nov 17, 2010

I had my son prematurely in June 2007- I was very sick and couldn't get my milk started so while he was in the NICU I had donated breast milk given to him until I was well enough to establish mu milk supply. I was so grateful for this and know this is why he is so healthy despite being born almost 2 months early. It was a god-send because I didn't want him to be given formula at all!

Cecilia B.

12:09PM PST on Nov 17, 2010

great idea!!!