Pasteurized Donor Milk for Your Hospitalized Baby

When your baby is eating more milk than you are making, pasteurized donor human milk can be added and is a safe option for babies that qualify. Pasteurized donor human milk comes from healthy, lactating parents. This milk is easy to digest and contains many of the active growth hormones, enzymes, and immune system factors found in a parent’s own milk.

Benefits

Premature or hospitalized babies that are fed human milk:

• Can usually handle feedings sooner.
• Have a reduced risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a very serious bowel infection.
• Have fewer infections.

Risks

Some diseases, like HIV, hepatitis B and C, human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), and other illnesses, may be spread by donor milk. Donor milk is tested for these diseases, but testing may not be 100% effective. The risk of this happening is low.

Screening Human Milk Donors

Before giving their milk, donating parents go through a strict screening process to make sure their milk is safe for all babies. Donors are not paid for giving their milk.

Donors must:

• Give a verbal medical history.
• Complete a written health history and lifestyle survey.
• Not smoke or drink alcohol.
• Only take medicines approved by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA).
• Have a complete medical release form from their child’s doctor and health care provider to be able to donate their milk.
• Have blood tests for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV).

Pasteurization Process

Donated milk goes through a heating process to kill bacteria and viruses. This is called pasteurization.

The pasteurization process involves:

• Heating human milk to kill bacteria and viruses that cause disease.
• Mixing the milk together from many different parents to make a batch.
• Testing (culturing) the milk to make sure all the harmful germs are killed. Even though some parts of the milk are destroyed during pasteurization, it still has many of the benefits of human milk.

Becoming a Donor

Parents with extra milk may want to donate it to help other sick and fragile babies. If you have extra milk and want to become a donor, contact the OhioHealth Mothers’ Milk Bank:

Email:  milkbank@ohiohealth.com

Phone:  (614) 566-0630
Website:  https://www.ohiohealth.com/services/womens-health/ohiohealth-mothers-milk-bank

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