The Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England

A mothers’ milk bank collects, processes, tests and distributes donated human milk to babies in need, particularly premature infants whose mothers are unable to provide for them due to health or other reasons. While there are 11 active milk banks in the US and Canada, currently, this important health service is not available in New England. The Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England (MMBNE) is a recently established non-profit health service in the Boston area dedicated to this vital aspect of care for premature newborns. A physician Medical Advisory Board supervises the implementation of national standards for collection, screening, processing and dispensing.

Some mothers, particularly those who have premature, traumatic and/or multiple births, have difficulty providing fully for their infants. Banked human milk is widely recognized as the best alternative to mothers' milk in these situations. Use of commercial formula increases the incidence of medical complications such as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), (Hylander et al, 2001) a significant cause of blindness affecting very low birth weight babies. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a disease that destroys a portion of the intestines. NEC is 10-17% more likely if a premature infant is fed formula. About 30% of babies with NEC do not survive. Treatment can require surgical removal of part of the intestine and can lead to lifelong gastrointestinal problems, largely preventable by feeding babies human milk (McGuire and Anthony, 2003). By preventing medical complications, banked milk also reduces the length and cost of hospital stays for premature infants (Wight, 2001).

The Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England is a non-profit community milk bank whose mission is to provide donor human milk to newborns in need by:

• collecting, pasteurizing and dispensing donor human milk;
• educating the medical and general communities about indications for, benefits of and use of donor human milk;
• furthering our knowledge of donor human milk through research.

For more information and to learn about the current status of the Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England, visit our website: www.milkbankne.org.

ACOG Clinical Review Breastfeeding: Maternal and Infant Aspects (2007) ACOG Clinical Review (12:1 (supplement) Jan-Feb. 2007

Arnold LDW 1998. Cost savings through the use of donor milk" Case histories. J Hum Lact 14:3 255-8.

Boyd, CA, Quigley MA, Brocklehurst P. 2006. Donor breast milk versus infant formula for preterm infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition 2007;92:F169-F175

Cohen, RS Current Issues in Human Milk Banking 2007 NeoReviews; 8;e289-e295 http://neoreviews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/neoreviews;8/7/e289

Heiman, H and Schanler RJ, 2006. Benefits of maternal and donor milk for premature infants. Early Human Development 82: 781-7

Human Milk Banking Association of North America 2007. Best Practice for Pumping, Storing and Handling of Mother's Own Milk in Hospital and at Home.

Human Milk Banking Association of North America, 2007. Guidelines for the Establishment and Operation of a Donor Human Milk Bank, Raleigh NC.

Hylander, MA, Strobino, DM, Cezzulo JC, Dhanireddy, R. 2001. Association of human milk feedings with a reduction in retinopathy of Prematurity among very low birthweight infants. Journal of Perinatology 21:356-62.

McGuire, W, Anthony MY, 2003 Donor human milk versus formula for preventing necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants: a systematic review. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatl Ed. 8 F11-F14.

Orloff, SL, Wallingford, JC, McDougal JS. 1993. Inactivation of human immunodeficiency virus type I in human milk: Effects of intrinsic factors in human milk and of pasteurization J Hum Lact. 9:13-17.

Tully DB, et al 2001. Donor milk: What's in it and what's not. J Hum Lact. 17: 152-155.

Schanler RJ, Shulman RJ, Lau C. Feeding strategies for premature infants: beneficial outcomes of feeding fortified human milk versus preterm formula 1999;103(6Pt1): 1150-1157

Vohr et al. 2006 Beneficial effects of breast milk in the neonatal intensive care unit on the developmental outcome of extremely low birth weight infants at 18 months of age. Pediatrics, 118:115-123.

Wight NE. 2001. Donor human milk for preterm infants. J Perinatol 21(4): 249-254.