Premature & Fragile Infants
Medically vulnerable infants are prioritized to receive donor milk when their own mother's milk is unavailable or insufficient. This lifesaving nutrition is primarily provided in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), where the smallest and sickest babies benefit most.
Each year, approximately 75% of the donor milk we dispense is provided to NICUs.
- Rich in immunological and bioactive components, donor milk helps protect fragile infants from serious complications such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), reduces the risk of infection, and improves survival and long-term health outcomes.
Outpatient Babies
- Babies living at home with a medical condition receive donor milk by prescription.
- Each year, approximately 20% of donor milk serves this population.
- Our charitable care program, The Milk Money Fund, ensures that outpatient babies are never turned away based on their family's ability to pay milk processing fees.
Healthy Newborns
- Our Donor Milk to Go program is carefully managed based on milk availability, ensuring that the needs of the most medically vulnerable infants remain the highest priority.
- When supply allows, healthy newborns at participating hospitals can receive donor milk as a bridge from hospital discharge to a successful breastfeeding routine at home.
- Each year, approximately 5% of donor milk supports healthy newborns through this program.
Quick Links to Learn More
- Read about babies who have benefited from receiving donor milk from our lab.
- Every year, more than a thousand mothers donate their extra breastmilk to our milk bank to help other babies. Learn about the screening process and read some of their stories.
- From donor screenings to milk dispensation, we follow rigorous safety and quality assurance procedures.
- Review some of the research, education resources and position statements that support the utilization of donor milk for fragile infants.
