The collection and storage of human milk : report / of a Working Party on Human Milk Banks, Panel on Child Nutrition, Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy.

  • Great Britain. Working Party on Human Milk Banks.
Date:
1981
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The collection and storage of human milk : report / of a Working Party on Human Milk Banks, Panel on Child Nutrition, Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Preface Human milk banks are known to have been in existence for the past half century, and were set up to provide human milk for babies who could not otherwise have obtained it. With the increasing refinement of artificial feeds prepared from cows’ milk, appreciation of the value of human milk became temporarily under-rated and, over the past quarter of a century, many milk banks were closed. In the last decade, however, research has emphasized the unique nutritional and protective qualities of both human colostrum and milk, and the demand for donated human milk for small or sick babies, whose mothers cannot themselves provide enough for their infants, has increased. In this technological age, standards for collecting, treating, storing and distributing human milk are expected to be high. Guidelines have been sought from the Health Departments by many professional staff in hospitals when proposals have been made to set up human milk banks. It is for Health Authorities locally to decide whether to set up human milk banks in the light of their particular circumstances. Established banks function successfully in many different ways and, in the present state of knowledge, a single correct procedure cannot be advocated. Nevertheless, it is essential to ensure the microbiological safety of any milk given to young babies as well as to retain as completely as possible the immunological and nutritional properties of the milk. The means by which a balance between these two functions of a milk bank can be achieved are discussed in this report of a Working Party set up under the aegis of the Panel on Child Nutrition of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy. We are grateful to the Chairman, Professor June Lloyd, and to all the other members of the Working Party, who gave freely of their time and expertise in three meetings held between September 1979 and March 1980 and in correspondence by which much of the work was completed. We are also indebted to members of the Standing Panel on Hazards from Microbial Contamination of Food for their helpful comments on the microbiological aspects of the draft report. H Yellowlees Chairman, Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy ili