Have excess breastmilk? Here’s how to donate it.

Have you ever considered donating your breast milk? Some mamas produce more milk than their baby needs and instead of dumping it, they donate it so other babies can benefit from their liquid gold. This also helps other moms who otherwise may have to supplement because they don’t produce enough. 

How to donate breastmilk?

The process of donating breastmilk is relatively simple. You can do a quick search to find a milk bank in your community. These are organizations that connect milk donors and milk recipients. You can also talk to your doctor about whether they know of a mother in need of breast milk.

In terms of eligibility, be prepared to answer several questions about your health. There are also certain things that could make you ineligible, including recent travel to certain countries or tobacco use.

You’ll have to fill out an application, possibly participate in a screening call, give blood work or medical records and you may have to have your pediatrician sign off to confirm you’re breastfeeding. This may seem like a long process, but remember how helpful this will be in the end.

After you’ve made it through the application process, next comes prepping/donating. You’ll need to sterilize your pump parts, wash your hands thoroughly and transfer it to freezer bags without it touching your hands. Be sure to label it with the date and time of when you pumped your milk. Keep in mind, from the day you pump you have a limited timeframe to donate your extra milk. 

It's also worth noting that milk banks each have their own protocol for the donation process.

Where can you donate breastmilk?

Here are a few suggestions to get you started. 

TheMilkBank is a non-profit, community-supported entity. It was established to improve health outcomes for premature and ill infants, foster better health for children and decrease health care expenditures. 

The Human Milk Banking Association of North America works with more than 30 non profit milk banks in the United States and Canada that follow rigorous guidelines for safety.  

TinyTreasuresMilkBank takes your donated milk and allows critically ill and premature infants the chance to benefit from human milk. The donations will be used by Prolacta Bioscience to make human milk-based nutritional products. 

If you are in need of milk, each of the organizations listed above has options to receive milk as well.