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The Donate Life Vials campaign is in full swing. The campaign consists of raising mothers who breastfeed and who have surplus milk to donate to the milk bank in their region of residence. But how is the process of donating breast milk? What is the process of the milk bank like until reaching the baby that needs breast milk so badly?
Currently, more than 280 thousand babies are born prematurely , prematurely and need a lot of breast milk to gain weight, avoid infections and gain greater immunity. The benefits of breast milk are numerous! So how do you become a breast milk donor? How does breast milk reach the milk bank closest to your home and how is it treated until it reaches the babies in need?
See more about milk donation with Dr. Rosangela Gomes in the video I made at the milk bank of Hospital Regional Sul in Santo Amaro SP
Raising donors to the milk bank
It all starts here at this step, many women do not realize how important the breast milk they produce is. It all starts with the awareness that can be done in the maternity ward where she gave birth. Usually the maternity units that coordinate the milk banks and the vast majority of the milk that collects is used for that unit. Sometimes the milk collected in the milk bank can also be supplied to other locations in the region, it all depends on the baby’s stock and needs.
Pipettes where the milk is subjected to bacterial analysis
The ideal would be to have breast milk for all babies, but due to the limited amount in stocks, unfortunately some babies can only receive milk from the maternity milk bank when the ideal would be to have breast milk available to everyone. Milk can be collected from moms who have their babies hospitalized and of course, it can be donated by other good-hearted moms. To become a donor, simply locate the milk bank or collection point closest to your home. Use LOBALE (Human Milk Bank Locator) to find the most accessible post in your area across the country. In these posts they will probably fill out a form and the donor candidate mother will have tests to check her health.
Tests such as chagas disease, hepatitis, HIV and other diseases are done in order to eliminate carriers of diseases that are possibly transferred by breast milk. If approved, in the exams the donor signs a term of commitment to authorize the donation and that’s it! Now you can donate the most precious liquid that exists.
How is the treatment in the milk bank?
The milk donated by women to the milk bank is treated, pasteurized and stored until it is passed on to a baby who needs it. Since milk collection there are precautions that must be adopted. Donor milking should be done with very clean hands, clean breasts. Also is used caps and masksto prevent saliva from falling and hair from contaminating the milked milk to the milk bank. Glass with sterile plastic lids is used to store the harvested milk to be donated. The collected material must be kept in a freezer or freezer until the collection is made or taken to the collection point or milk bank. Most of the points that receive donations of breast milk do this household collection, however there are still places that do not have this facility. Home collection is done by a nurse accompanied by firefighters.
Then the milk is taken to points that are pasteurized and stored. The milk bank is very thorough when it comes to storage and pasteurization. Milk is always subjected to several steps to reach the newborns. To start, the minimum amount of milk collected for donation must be 300ml, because several tests are made on the milk before it is pasteurized. The first test is the visual, the experts analyze if there is any residue such as hair and lint that may have entered the glass at the time of milking. The milk bank that does the pasteurization of the milk has a whole sterile area to do the procedure. The warm area of the milk bank’s pasteurization room prevents bacteria from any chance of proliferating.
<a href = “https://www.Wipesleep.com.br/wp-content/uploads/pasteurização-de-leite-humano-2.jpg” Water bath where the milk bottles are submerged
This step is important because if the pasteurization is not done well, the milk will have to be subjected to a new pasteurization. An examination is done in small test tubes to analyze the bacterial growth and if it is negative growth for colonies of bacteria the milk will be stored and sent for consumption by the babies. Each milk has a different fat level. Milk fat is beneficial because it makes the baby gain weight, no milk is weak! Each glass has its fat content noted and directed to those who most need a greater concentration of fat. More yellowish milks tend to be more greasy.
Before going to the freezer that is also monitored, the milk is labeled with the day and time of pasteurization, so you know exactly which day and even when the milk can be used. Pasteurized breast milk lasts approximately up to three months in the freezer while whole milk without the pasteurization process lasts only 15 days in perfect condition. The pasteurization work of the milk bank is done with a lot of love and care. I know this because I saw the work of these incredible people up close who dedicate their life to bringing more life to premature newborns who need their beautiful work so badly. Special thanks to the milk bank staff at the regional hospital Sul de Santo Amaro in São Paulo, they welcomed us with open arms! Dr. Rosangela Gomes my thanks for giving all the explanations and congratulations for the beautiful work to her and her entire team.
See also: Storing Breast Milk – Solution For Moms
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
