News

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How does milk pass through the Hearts Milk Bank?

Why unequal access to donor milk can be so cruel

Image credit: Eva Bee/ The Observer A beautiful piece written by Francesca Segal on the impact milk donation made to her and her twins when they were born prematurely was published in the Observer and Guardian Online over the weekend. Francesca sums up the experiences of so many mothers who have lived through the NICU: […]

The Hearts Milk Bank featured on the BBC

Find out more about our work supporting mothers facing a cancer diagnosis, and how donor milk can give hope at the darkest time. Milk for Yulia’s baby was funded entirely by donations to the Human Milk Foundation and Mummy’s Star. If you can us to support more mothers like Yulia, please help by donating what […]

British Medical Journal stops advertising infant formula

Many of you will be aware that the British Medical Journal announced yesterday (18.03.2019) that they will stop advertising breastmilk substitute products in the BMJ and across their sister journals. This has been a huge team effort – along with the pieces published by the BMJ last year by Dr Chris van Tulleken and Dr […]

The Great Formula Milk Scandal – what can you do?

The Channel 4 Dispatches programme, the Great Formula Milk Scandal, shown on Monday 18th March highlighted the actions of the formula industry that put their profits before the health of babies and mothers. The Human Milk Foundation was not part of the making of this programme, but we understand that the issues it raised may […]

Yulia’s story

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma a month before giving birth. As I was preparing for labour and becoming a new mum, breastfeeding was fundamental to me. I can’t describe how important it was. After the diagnosis was made, they told me that I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed during chemotherapy. That was a huge […]

Natalie and Gillian awarded Points of Light Awards by PM!

The Prime Minister has today, 20 February, recognised Dr Natalie Shenker and Gillian Weaver, from Hertfordshire, for founding the Hearts Milk Bank. The statement out from the Prime Minister’s office can be read here! Natalie and Gillian are the latest recipients of the Points of Light award, which recognises outstanding volunteers who are making a change […]

We need to start talking about feeding plans

When I had my first daughter, I spent the first two weeks asking anyone and everyone who came to the flat to meet her why they had not told me it would be like this. I had had a pretty difficult birth, a long -labour, a rushed, frightening end, forceps, tearing and haemorrhage. I also […]

Support our Christmas appeal!

We have had an incredible 2018, launching in the summer, and already supporting scores of babies and families to access screened donor milk when mother’s milk is not available. We are hearing stories every day of the impact this is making, and they are incredible. We will be sharing more of these in 2019 as […]

Industry influence and overdiagnosis of cow milk protein allergy

Writing in this week’s British Medical Journal, Dr Chris van Tulleken examines the links between medical education and the formula industry. Milk banks are increasingly on the front line of the rising wave of cow milk protein allergy (CMPA). Increasing numbers of mothers contact the Hearts Milk Bank each week wanting to donate stored milk they have been advised […]

Positive News

Literally! Read a short piece about donor milk use in this week’s Positive News here.   There is a vicious circle when it comes to awareness, suggests Dr Natalie Shenker, who co-founded The Hearts Milk Bank in 2017. “If people don’t know about milk banking, they don’t ask for it. If no one’s asking for […]

Watch the ‘science bit’ from Dispatches here!

As scientific techniques advance, our understanding of human milk is becoming more detailed. The Dispatches documentary on Channel 4 in the summer of 2018 helped highlight many of the barriers women in the UK face in breastfeeding their babies, and created an amazing scene to demonstrate the complexity of human milk. 100 volunteers gathered on […]

Order your Christmas cards and support the HMF!

The lovely Daisy Rae of SouthonDesigns has created beautiful cards for sale on Etsy for years. As of this week, 40 p from each card sold will be donated straight to the Human Milk Foundation. Browse and order Daisy’s cards here! Daisy wrote to tell us: “I am choosing to support the HMF through my […]

Human Milk Foundation on Jeremy Vine!

If you missed it yesterday, you can listen to HMF Cofounder, Natalie Shenker, and Professor Amy Brown from Swansea University talking about the science of human milk and the work of the Human Milk Foundation on Radio 2’s The Jeremy Vine show – the piece starts at around 1305 (after Tom Jones’s Sex Bomb…). All […]