“Mother's milk, time-tested for millions of years,
is the best nutrient for babies because it is nature's perfect food”

Robert S. Mendelsohn

 

The gift of life! You can make a difference donate today!
The Calgary Mothers' Milk Bank (CMMB) is now open and accepting donations of milk.

 

Canada’s Second Human Milk Bank Opens 

“It can be terrifying for parents when a child comes into this world too early. Breast Milk is a premature baby’s best source of nourishment. But not every mom is able to provide this for their child. Thanks to a very special bank, babies who need it most can now get that precious milk”. 

Interview with Jannette on Global TV Read more Breast Milk Bank Delivers Precious Gift. View Here...

“The newly opened Calgary Mothers' Milk Bank dispensed its first donated batch of breast milk to Foothills Hospital on April 13th, that milk is for very premature babies and other sick infants whose mothers can't breastfeed them." Listen to More...

“A human milk bank, only the second one in existence in Canada, is now accepting donations in Calgary. The groundbreaking new facility, called the Calgary Mothers' Milk Bank, has only been running for a few weeks but has already been met with a phenomenal public response, said founder Jannette Festival”.

“I think the bank is a good idea for moms to support each other that way,” said expectant mother Trina Miles, adding she would consider donating in the future. “I don’t think it’s gross or anything. It’s weird and definitely different but sometimes there’s problems and people need help.” Read More...

“The thing with human milk is that it's meant for human babies.” Read More...

Calgary Mothers’ Milk Bank (CMMB) is a community based, not-for-profit organization that provides screened and pasteurized donor human milk to babies in need when mother’s own milk is not available. To find out more information, visit the Calgary Mothers' Milk Bank Website

 

Cost Effectiveness of Human Milk Banks:

        “Breastfeeding confers significant short and long-term health benefits
for both the mother and her infant, which go beyond the period of breastfeeding itself”

National Health Service of Great Britain

 

The author Lois Arnold looked at just one medical problem that could be reduced by using banked milk and the savings to the health care system.
J Human  Lactation. 2002 May;18(2):172-7.

The cost-effectiveness of using banked donor milk in the neonatal intensive care unit: prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis. Arnold LD.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) adds significantly to the cost of care for premature infants and to negative long-term and short-term outcomes for these infants. It is thus in the best interest of the health care system to prevent the occurrence of NEC through feeding protocols that foster NEC prevention (i.e., use of breast milk in the neonatal intensive care unit).
Banked donor milk has been shown to be as effective in preventing NEC as mother's milk. Three models of cost analysis are presented to show savings that could accrue to a health care system or individual family if banked donor milk were provided as first feedings when mother's milk is not available. The cost of using banked donor milk to feed premature infants is inconsequential when compared to the savings from NEC prevention.

 

Paediatric Society Position Paper on Human Milk Banking 

              “The one thing that has evolved with humans, to nourish humans, is breast
milk. It is the ideal evolutionary model for what nourishment should be. It is a remarkable fluid”.

J. Bruce German, a food science professor at the University of California, Davis

OTTAWA – Pasteurized human milk is a recommended alternative for hospitalized sick newborns when their own mother’s milk is not available, according to a new statement by the Canadian Paediatric Society.  The statement, published today in Paediatrics & Child Health, says that human milk banking in Canada should be encouraged and promoted.

“The most vulnerable babies should receive human milk,” said Dr. Sharon Unger, principal author of the statement and member of the CPS Nutrition and Gastroenterology Committee. “Only about half of the mothers of these babies will have an adequate milk supply, sometimes because they are sick themselves, or due to the stress of having a very sick baby or from being separated from their baby.”

Yet the supply of donor breast milk in Canada is limited. The only human milk bank Canada, based in Vancouver, can’t meet the needs of all babies who could benefit.  

Read more about Donations of human milk could help sick, hospitalized newborns... November 2010

 

Ensuring safety and ethical allocation of Breast milk. Read More...

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