Flexible Content - Human Milk Foundation

To ensure equitable and assured access to donor milk.

To facilitate research into the uses, processing and storage of donor milk.

To make donor milk available when breastfeeding is impossible.

To keep the mother and baby, and the support of breastfeeding, at the heart of all that we do.

To act as a recruitment centre for ethically funded research, particularly investigating how breastfeeding affects breast cancer risk.

Donating milk

Becoming a milk donor is similar to becoming a blood donor. Relatively few things would prevent you becoming a milk donor, but we cannot accept donations if you are smoking or using nicotine replacement products.

Please contact the milk bank by phone (01582 314130, between 9.30 am and 5 pm) or by email (info@heartsmilkbank.org), and we will guide you through the process.
You will need to complete a questionnaire and consent form, which can be done on a computer using forms we email. We can also post out forms and information to you if you need. The questionnaire includes questions about your medical history, lifestyle and diet, as well as your baby’s health and how you are expressing milk.

Once the forms are returned (as a pdf by email or by post if completing a hard copy), we will send out a kit for blood tests to be taken. These can be arranged at your GP or local phlebotomy centre. We are required by national guidelines to test all donors for HIV1 and 2, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and human T-lymphotropic virus.
The blood results take about a week to come back. In the meantime, you can arrange a collection of your milk through your password-protected Milk Bank online portal.

Every container (bag or bottle) of milk for donation will need to be labeled with your name or unique Hearts Milk Bank donor ID number, the date it was expressed and details of any medications taken within the previous 24 hours.

All of our processes are in line with the NICE Clinical Guideline #93 for the Operation of a Human Milk Bank. If you have any questions about the process of becoming a milk bank donor, please call us between 9.30 am to 5.00 pm.

Accessing donor milk

Our primary aim is to ensure that hospitals caring for the sickest, most premature babies, whose mothers need additional support, have assured supplies of donor milk. When we have sufficient supplies available, we make donor milk available to parents facing breastfeeding challenges.

Any family accessing donor milk will need the support and oversight of a healthcare professional. This is to make sure that the milk is being requested and used appropriately, and that the mother’s own lactation is being supported. Healthcare professionals could include a GP, paediatrician, community midwife or dietician, or IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant).

The Hearts Milk Bank is a not for profit organsiation. However it does need to cover its costs when providing donor milk. These include premises, staffing, equipment and operational costs, donor recruitment and blood tests and all the microbiology tests on the milk. The HMB does not request or accept payment directly from parents. If breastfeeding is impossible, for example as a result of previous mastectomies or medication use that is contraindicated in lactation, then contacting us early during pregnancy helps our planning. We encourage applications for funding for donor milk to be made to your local Clinical Commisioning Group, and this can be done with the support of your GP. We are happy to provide information and support for this process.

If funding is not granted by the CCG, then the Human Milk Foundation may be able to provide some funding towards donor milk use.

If you are having difficulties establishing your supply and reluctant to supplement with infant formula, please read the guide to Accessing Donor Milk to Support Breastfeeding, and read the case studies below.

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Contact the Milk Bank

Please contact the milk bank by phone (01582 314130, between 9.30 am and 5 pm) or by email (info@heartsmilkbank.org), and we will guide you through the process.

Complete Our Questionnare

You will need to complete a questionnaire and consent form, which can be done on a computer using forms we email. We can also post out forms and information to you if you need. The questionnaire includes questions about your medical history, lifestyle and diet, as well as your baby’s health and how you are expressing milk.

Blood Tests

Once the forms are returned (as a pdf by email or by post if completing a hard copy), we will send out a kit for blood tests to be taken. These can be arranged at your GP or local phlebotomy centre. We are required by national guidelines to test all donors for HIV1 and 2, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and human T-lymphotropic virus.

Results

The blood results take about a week to come back. In the meantime, you can arrange a collection of your milk through your password-protected Milk Bank online portal.

Milk ID

Every container (bag or bottle) of milk for donation will need to be labeled with your name or unique Hearts Milk Bank donor ID number, the date it was expressed and details of any medications taken within the previous 24 hours.

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