Strengthening Human Milk Banking Systems through an Integrated Approach: A Global Perspective

The provision of donor human milk has been shown to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality of vulnerable infants both in the US and globally and is recommended as the next best option when a mother’s own milk is unavailable. Scale-up of human milk banks has been hindered, however, by the absence of an appropriate model for resource-limited settings and a lack of policy support for human milk banks and operational procedures. Governments and advocates worldwide could benefit from adopting an effective and integrated approach to establishing human milk bank systems. Aligning human milk banking with newborn care and breastfeeding support will permit current and future human milk banks to achieve the greatest impact possible, reaching more infants with a safe and high-quality supply of human milk.

Using current guidelines from human milk banks around the world, and highlighting best practices, this project offers a set of universal requirements as a model for increasing the effectiveness of human milk banks, particularly in low-resource settings. Integration with newborn care guidelines can be improved and efforts strengthened using standardized practices, guidelines outlining critical components, and policy support.

Materials Available

• Poster

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Project Type(s): MPH Practicum, PH Concentration Poster

Author(s): Alessandra DeMarchis

Program(s): Master of Public Health, RDN Training

Year: 2015

Adviser(s):

• Anne Lund