Donor Milk Processing
We make sure all donated breast milk is processed in the safest and cleanest environment for babies.
We take the following steps:
- Frozen breast milk is shipped or dropped off at our milk bank by approved donors. We record who donated the milk, the dates the milk was pumped, and the date it was received. It is stored in a temperature-controlled freezer until it is processed.
- To start the process, donated milk is thawed in our sterile lab.
- We combine the milk from a variety of donors to ensure it has the best nutritional value to help babies, especially babies that may be very fragile.
- Milk is poured into bottles, secured with tamper-resistant lids, and labeled with a barcode, batch number and expiration date.
- Next, milk is heat processed during pasteurization, which removes potentially harmful bacteria while keeping nutrients and other important immunological properties.
- After pasteurization, the milk is tested to make sure it does not include any bacteria.
- Bottles of milk are quickly frozen and in a temperature-controlled freezer.
We are a member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA). Our process follows their guidelines.
