Often imitated, never duplicated
Get safe donor milk to meet your baby’s short or long term needs.
Step 1
Get Started
Complete intake forms online or download and print.
Step 2
Complete Payment
Pay online or or discuss alternatives like our Medical Relief Fund.
You Can’t Mimic the Magic
The Milk Bank has the unique ability to provide families in our communities with a readily available source of safe donor milk.
Quick access to donor milk gives parents peace of mind. The Milk Bank provides safe donor milk as a medical treatment, to bridge a gap or to help meet breastfeeding goals.
Why is there a processing fee for donated milk?
The processing fee covers the cost of donor screening, nutritional analysis, pasteurization, microbiological testing, and cold storage. These steps ensure donor milk is safe for the most fragile babies. The Milk Bank primarily serves NICU babies in the hospital.
Like other tissue banks, milk banks have many layers of safety before milk reaches tiny tummies. Keep reading below to learn more about our safety standards.
The Milk Bank has a sliding-scale Medical Relief Fund so that our processing fee doesn’t prevent families from getting the help they need.
Safety Protocols
The Milk Bank follows strict screening, processing, and dispensing guidelines established by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) to ensure the safety of pasteurized donor human milk.
These guidelines have been established with the advisement of the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, and the blood and tissue industries.
Potential donors provide complete medical and lifestyle histories, and undergo blood tests similar to the screening process used at blood banks.
Donated milk is pasteurized to kill any bacteria or viruses. Before the pasteurized milk is dispensed, bacteriological testing is done by an independent lab to ensure its safety.
REQUEST SAFE DONOR MILK
In order to get started, download the packet information
or submit the intake forms online.
Not sure where to begin? That’s okay! Please call one of our specialists or email outpatient@themilkbank.org.
Milk Recipient FAQ
Whether you’re bridging a small gap or need ongoing help – get started by checking out our recipient intake form. If you are accessing 40 ounces or less, you won’t need a prescription & can typically handle the entire process online.
If you need more than 40 ounces or are interested in our sliding-scale Medical Relief Fund, a follow-up call from our team will help guide you through the remaining steps!
Donor milk for outpatient families goes through the same important safety measures as milk used for the most fragile NICU babies! Hospitals pay the processing fee to offset these costs.
It’s an honor to also serve babies at home, but this processing fee can be a barrier. Thanks to financial support from the community, we have a sliding-scale Medical Relief Fund for families who need milk for medical reasons.
Most families can access milk in less than 24 hours! If you need more than 40 ounces or would like financial support from our Medical Relief Fund, you can help streamline the process by requesting a prescription for donor milk from baby’s physician.
There are more than a dozen convenient pick-up locations in the community called Milk Express. To pick-up at one of these sites, you’ll select it at check out.
Not near a Milk Express site? No worries, we can also ship milk directly to your home. We pass along the discounted rate we receive from UPS.
Several states, as well as Tricare insurance for military families, offer reimbursement of donor milk in some situations. The Milk Bank cannot file insurance claims on your behalf, but we can provide the information you need to request reimbursement if you think you might be covered.
Why use donor milk?
Pasteurized Donor Human Milk has been scientifically proven to benefit babies. There are a variety of reasons a family might need to use pasteurized donor milk at home for short or long-term needs. Some of the more common:
- Prematurity
- Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
- Failure to thrive
- Pre- and post-operative nutrition
- Maternal illness or absence
- Adoption
- Low or developing milk supply
- Treatment for infectious diseases
- Immunodeficiency disorders
- Formula intolerance