Establishing a Community Donor Human Milk Depot

Purpose for the program:

There is a critical shortage of Donor Human Milk (DHM) in the United States.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (APA) recommends that all preterm and compromised infants have mother’s own breast milk, and when it is not available, pasteurized DHM is the next best nutrition.  Pasteurized DHM offers healing properties for compromised infants and can prevent necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life threatening condition for significantly premature infants. The results are immediate health benefits, better long term outcomes, and significantly reduced healthcare costs. Only DHM provided by a Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) milk bank is safe for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). DHM Depots can provide a valuable service to increase the collection of DHM and raise awareness of the need for milk donation.  They provide an easy drop off location where women can bring their breast milk,  saving the donor from having to ship the milk themselves to the milk bank for processing.

Proposed change:

If every hospital established a DHM Depot, the supply of DHM would increase dramatically, reducing the shortage of this vital lifesaving nutrition to our most fragile patients.  There are 12 HMBANA Milk Banks currently operating in the United States.  Only 149 DHM Depots are available to provide milk to the HMBANA Milk Banks.  It is estimated that 9 million ounces of DHM are needed to meet the needs of NICU’s nationwide. 

Implementation, outcomes and evaluation:

In May of 2013, Florida Hospital in Orlando opened The Mother's Milk Depot under the guidelines of HMBANA.  With relatively low overhead, utilizing existing staff and space to house a deep freezer,  our doors opened. In 4 months time, the Depot had collected and shipped to the Milk Bank of Colorado from 13 donors, nearly 10,000 ounces of donor human milk. This was roughly the same quantity as the amount of processed DHM that  the hospital had received over the past 8 months from the milk bank. 

Implications for nursing practice:

Having a hospital based DHM Depot allows nurses the opportunity to help raise awareness of the need for DHM, and offer their patients the easy drop off location for milk donation.  Nurses can be instrumental in reducing the shortage of DHM, help save lives of babies, and show their community that the health of women and children are a top priority.

Keywords: Milk Depot; Donor Human Milk; Milk Bank