Donor Milk to Benefit Premature Babies in NICU

Premature babies whose mothers are unable to provide enough breast milk now can receive donor human milk and the nutritional benefits it provides, thanks to a collaboration between the NICU and the Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England.

“Human milk is particularly important for premature babies,” said lactation consultant Tina Steele, RN, IBCLC, of the NICU. “It builds their immune systems and provides growth factors and the right nutrition.”

The Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England will provide the NICU with pasteurized and carefully screened donor human milk. As a standard of care, the NICU will use this milk for babies born under 3.5 pounds and at less than 30 weeks gestation.

“This is putting into practice our knowledge that breast milk is not only nutritional but medicinal,” said Robert Insoft, MD, medical director of the NICU. “That’s why the donor milk program is so important to us. We want babies whose mothers cannot produce enough milk to have the nutritional and medicinal qualities of human milk.”

The Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England, which operates under strict safety standards, is the only milk bank in the region. Mothers who have more milk than their babies need may donate it through the bank to help other babies. Breastfeeding is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and encouraged by health care providers.

“Our new donor milk program provides the opportunity for our smallest babies to receive the benefit of human milk feeding, during the first few days to weeks of life, for those instances where their own mother’s milk is not 100 percent available,” said Deirdre Ellard, MS, RD/LDN, at BWH.