Heidi Baudhuin, RD, LD
According to Best Practice for Expressing, Storing, and Handling Human Milk, 20191, less than 1% of possible donors apply to donate to not-for-profit milk banks, like the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa.
About
The Mother’s Milk bank of Iowa is one of 32 non-profit accredited member banks of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA). Our main goal is to collect breast milk from volunteer donors to supply babies in need with optimal nutrition. Many babies are born premature and for one reason or another, their mother’s supply may not be enough to meet that baby’s needs. A lot of times these babies are immunocompromised and need the best source of nutrition. Human milk is the ideal diet for these infants because it is so closely matched to what those preterm babies need. It is rich in antibodies and other nutritious factors that protect against infection and inflammation as well as boost an infant’s immune system and healthy development. We like to call it “liquid gold” here at the milk bank.
How to Become a Milk Donor
If a mom has surplus milk and is interested in donating, she would first start the process by calling or emailing the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa. We have a 3-step screening process for milk donors to ensure all the precious milk we are receiving is as safe as possible for infants:
1. Verbal interview (takes about 15 minutes over the phone)
2. Written questionnaire including form for health care provider to sign
3. Blood testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, HTLV, syphilis (The milk bank sends the
donors the blood kit, blood tubes, labels, etc. which they’ll have to take to a local lab
to have your blood drawn. It is then sent to the Memorial Blood Center. They will
analyze it and send us the results. The milk bank will contact them thereafter
with their results).
Who Qualifies to Become a Milk Donor
Some examples of the requirements the donors must meet are as follows:
Non-smoking
Not donating milk within 12 hours of alcohol consumption
Not taking herbal supplements including vitamins that contain herbs/blends (ashwagandha, etc.)
Willing to donate a minimum of 200 oz. over entire lactation time
Not taking certain medications [i.e. antibiotics (these just have a temporary deferral period), blood pressure medication etc.]
Once the donors pass these requirements, the milk that we can accept has to be:
Dated (we can accept milk already stored for up to 5—6 months)
Collected under sanitary conditions (hands, pump parts washed/cleansed prior to each pumping)
It was frozen within 72 hours (less than 24 hours preferred) of pumping
Warm milk was not combined with already chilled milk
It does not contain restricted medication or alcohol
Milk donor screening and subsequent approval is based on the mandatory standards and regulations set by HMBANA. We cover the screening cost that goes into all our steps. Once a donor is officially approved to donate their precious milk, the donor can then drop off their milk directly at our milk bank, one of our 42 depots that are located across the Midwest, or they can ship their milk directly to us. We provide all the shipping supplies for this. We have drop off sites located in Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
There are tons of NICU babies out there who need donor milk and our goal here at the milk bank is to bridge those awesome moms who have excess milk with those babies in need. For more information about our donation process, moms can call 319-384-9930. For more information on how to get donor milk, families can call 319-384-9929. All our information can also be found at our Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa website: www.uichildrens.org/mothers-milk-bank.
Resources:
1Jones, F. Best Practice for Expressing, Storing, and Handling Human Milk. 4th ed. HMBANA, 2019.
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