Helping our most vulnerable babies with donated breast milk

August 18, 2023

Dallas, a public health nurse at Interior Health, has donated more than 20 litres of expressed breast milk to the milk bank

When Dallas had her son eight years ago, she quickly realized she had more milk than she her son needed to thrive.

“I knew there were babies who could really benefit from my donated breast milk,” says Dallas, a public health nurse at Interior Health. “I have donated more than 20 litres of expressed breast milk to the milk bank. I got the idea from my own mom, who also donated when I was born prematurely at BC Women’s Hospital in 1985.

"The concept and use of donor milk has been around for a very long time, and has shown to be such a huge part in health and growth of our tiniest, most fragile patients."

When a baby is born prematurely or is sick, or when a mother’s milk isn’t available, pasteurized donor breast milk is the next best thing. While milk from a baby’s mother is always the first choice, donor breast milk contains the same antibodies that protect a baby from disease and infection.

In this Story…

Donating breast milk

Three plastic ziploc bags full of donated breast milk sits in a freezer — Twenty litres of expressed breast milk are prepared for shipment to the BC Women's Provincial Milk Bank in Vancouver

Pasteurized donor milk has active beneficial properties and provides babies with antibodies that help to fight disease and infection. This generous, life-saving donation gives back to community and provides optimal nutrition to help support fragile babies.

Interior Health has two milk bank depots where registered donors can donate their breast milk:

Trained Interior Health staff receive and store your milk, then courier it to the BC Women’s Provincial Milk Bank free of charge.

Babies who receive milk

Two women, one in a pink dress with long blond hair and one in a green dress and black shrug and a hair in a ponytail stand in front of a sliding door holding a plastic bag of donated breast milk — Public health nurses Mattea (left) and Jenny (right) hold a bag of donated breast milk being prepared for shipment

Pasteurized donor breast milk is always in high demand. The most fragile, vulnerable and ill babies receive milk first. Our neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Kamloops and Kelowna both have pasteurized milk available.

Recently, Penticton Regional Hospital (PRH) started receiving breast milk from the bank as part of the Baby-Friendly Initiative.

“We offer babies with low blood sugar or significant weight loss donated breast milk,” explains Cynthia Barton, manager, Clinical Operations at PRH. “Moms and families now have more options to supplement. This change has been so well received by everyone – physicians are excited, staff are excited. This speaks to the value and benefits we know human breast milk has for the health of babies.”

Before you donate

Donors with babies up to 18 months old can donate, as well as bereaved donors. Only healthy breastfeeding mothers who are non-smokers and have a healthy lifestyle are accepted.

Donating milk is simple and instructions are easy to follow. Before donating milk, a donor has to: