With only one liter of human milk currently available to feed an average of 30 to 35 babies admitted to the neonatal ICU, the Human Milk Bank of the Fernandes Figueira National Institute of Women, Children and Adolescents’ Health (IFF) of Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) is in need of donations.
This week, the IFF/Fiocruz is pasteurizing the milk received to feed hospitalized premature or low-weight babies and is unable to keep stock, informed the coordinator of the milk bank, Danielle Aparecida da Silva.
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According to the food engineer, the volume of donations tends to drop between December and February, when many donors travel on vacation. In January and February of this year, the number of donor mothers was 138 and 134, respectively, against 183 and 181 observed in January and February 2022. Human milk donations, which in January and February of last year reached 255, 2 liters and 231 liters, dropped to 116.6 liters and 87 liters in January and February 2023.
Danielle Silva said that the Fernandes Figueira Institute’s milk bank needs constant disclosure to maintain a reasonable number of donations. During the covid-19 pandemic, with work in home office (remote work) authorized by most companies, the babies had their mothers more present at home, which led to an increase in breastfeeding and also in donations, recalled the food engineer.
Currently, with the return of mothers to the face-to-face work environment, they are no longer donors, jeopardizing the stock of human milk for babies in the IFF’s Neonatal ICU.
how to donate
To become a donor, the woman must call the IFF/Fiocruz milk bank, at the toll-free number 0800 026 8877, and register. The latest prenatal exams are requested. When registering, the woman receives guidance on how to extract and collect the milk, said Danielle. Immediately after collection, the milk must be frozen in sterilized glass bottles that the mother receives from the human milk bank and labeled. “Mom puts her name and collection time on the tag.” The following week, IFF representatives collect the frozen milk from the donor’s home and leave more bottles and labels.
The mother will be a donor for as long as she wants, and there is no restriction on the volume donated. “The volume she donates is very welcome.” This March, the milk bank has 100 active donors, but this number varies from month to month.
Danielle warned that donors should not smoke or use alcohol or illicit drugs. She reported that the IFF team evaluates cases of contraindicated drug use with breastfeeding.
Last year, the human milk bank collected 3,097.6 liters of human milk, donated by 2,235 women, an average of 185 donors per month. This total was distributed to 522 premature newborns, an average of 43 babies hospitalized/month.
Benefits
Human milk is important to save the lives of premature newborns because it is the ideal food, containing all the nutrients necessary for the development of babies. “It is the only product that also comes with its protective factors. A hospitalized child, who was born prematurely, needs human milk, which comes with this protection, which comes with the exact nutrients, easily digestible and absorbed. This is why we need donations so much.”
Danielle highlighted that there are also benefits for women who donate. Those who produce a lot of milk and who may be accumulating milk in the breast may experience breast engorgement, or milk stones, which make the breasts sore and tight and hinder breastfeeding. They may also develop mastitis, an acute inflammation of the breast tissues, which may be accompanied by a bacterial infection.
“Donating milk also prevents such complications during the breastfeeding period.” For this reason, Danielle emphasizes that the donation is very good for the hospitalized baby, who will be discharged from the hospital faster and return home to family life, at the same time that it benefits the donor woman. “So, donating human milk helps not only the baby, but the family as well.”
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