Donor Milk at
The Breastfeeding Center
At The Breastfeeding Center, we serve as a controlled collection point where parents can donate their breast milk for premature babies, and also a distribution point where families come pick up pasteurized and screened milk for their newborns on an outpatient basis. We collected over 20,000 ounces of breast milk in 2015 when we started, and in 2021 we collected over 125,000 ounces– that’s a lot of milk for preemies and sick infants!
In This Article:
How Donor Milk Works
Where the Donor Milk Comes From
How to Become A Donor
How to Drop off Your Donations at The Breastfeeding Center
Interested In Purchasing
Donor Breast Milk?
How Does It Work?
HMBANA Milk Banks screen and blood test donors, pasteurizing and culturing milk prior to bottling for shipment to hospitals and medically fragile babies. Only donor milk from a HMBANA milk bank can be safely given to preterm, hospitalized infants, making it critically important. HMBANA milk banks depend on Milk Depot collection sites like The Breastfeeding Center, in order to meet the growing need for donor human milk as it is increasingly recognized as the standard of care for preterm and medically fragile babies.
Where Does the Milk Come From?
After a donor has been screened and blood tested through the Milk Bank, they drop their milk off here at the Breastfeeding Center. Their precious milk is then carefully packed and shipped overnight to Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin where each donor's milk is scanned by infrared spectroscopy (the MilkoScan) to determine the fat, protein, and lactose content. It is then pooled to meet nutritional needs for medically fragile babies, pasteurized, and third-party tested to ensure the absence of harmful bacterial cultures. Then the milk is then frozen, and shipped to hospitals nationwide (including some of our DC hospitals!), and once all the hospital needs are met, surplus milk is made available for outpatient use here at the Breastfeeding Center.
Because medically fragile infants and hospitals must have access to this lifesaving milk first, we cannot ever ensure regular supply for our outpatient clients, but are happy to make it available when we have it. All recipient families must be currently working with an IBCLC, and must have a prescription from their HCP for Donor Breastmilk. When Donor Milk is in stock we ration at 5 bottles per family per day to ensure we can keep milk available to as many families as possible. Both the The Center, and the Milk Bank are non-profit, and the cost for Donor Breastmilk on an outpatient basis reflects only the cost of processing and shipping as outlined above. Unfortunately Donor Milk is not currently covered by most insurance companies.
If you will regularly need donor milk, it may be easier for you to set up a relationship directly with a milk bank so they can ship you larger quantities regularly. The closest milk bank to the DC area is King’s Daughters Milk Bank
How Do I Become a Milk Donor?
The Breastfeeding Center partners with the Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin, a HMBANA Milk Bank—Human Milk Banking Association of North America—for Milk Donation.
To donate your milk through the Breastfeeding Center, call the Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin at 512-494-0800 to begin the screening process.
Drop-Off Guidelines for Approved Donors
We are so thrilled you’ve become a donor! Help us preserve every last ounce of your precious milk and your time by following these guidelines:
You are so generous, but we have limited freezer space! When our 2 freezers reach capacity (which happens weekly) we can no longer accept donations. There is sadly nothing that can be done once this happens and all donations must be paused until the next week.
Please call a few days prior to when you intend to donate, to get a “freezer space forecast.” THIS IS NOT A GUARANTEE, but can help you plan out when would be a good time to donate. Generally, Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to drop off because we clear the freezers and ship milk out to Austin on Monday or Tuesday.
It is VITAL that you call again just before you leave your house, with an approximate ounce-count and ETA, to ensure that we will have space for you. If we are out of freezer space, there is nothing that can be done when you arrive, and your milk will have to go home with you. We are so sorry!
We can only accept milk that is double bagged and closed. This is vital because bags can split, rip, or otherwise risk separating some portion of your milk from your name and donor number. Any milk that becomes separated from your name & donor number cannot be utilized by the Milk Bank and will have to be disposed. Every ounce of your milk is so precious and so very needed–help us avoid any loss!
Please include your LAST NAME, DONOR #, and an OUNCE COUNT on a piece of paper, both on the inside and on the outside of the bag. Please do not write on the bag as this can gradually rub off as your milk is transported, stored, and shipped.
Thank you so much for donating your milk!