Sponsor: Mothers’ Milk Bank
Website: www.milkbank.org
Contact: (512) 494-0800
The Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin follows strict screening, processing, and testing guidelines to ensure that banked human milk is safe. We select potential donors using a multi-step screening process similar to that used at blood banks. After being collected, donated milk is pooled and pasteurized to kill any bacteria or viruses.
Only a small percentage of the milk’s beneficial properties are destroyed by the pasteurization process. Research shows that the method of pasteurization used at the Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin preserves approximately 70% of the immune factors that help protect babies from illness. Before pasteurized milk is dispensed, bacteriological testing is done to ensure its safety.
Who makes it possible
Milk donors are healthy, conscientious women who care about the health of babies. They are most often nursing their own infants, have an abundant milk supply, and donate their extra milk to the MMBA. For this generous act they receive no payment or compensation, except the satisfaction that comes from knowing they have helped improve the health of a fragile baby.