"Where it is not possible for the biological mother to breastfeed, the first alternative, if available, should be the use of human breast milk from other sources. Human milk banks should be made available in appropriate situations."
World Health Organization/United Nations Children's Fund
International Breast Milk Project is the only international milk bank in the world. Moms like you have donated over 72,000 bottles of safe donor milk to help orphaned, sick and hungry infants in South Africa and around the world. View Pre-Qualification Guidelines - or - Apply Now
And we make it simple. From the online application, to picking up the milk right from your doorstep, we make donating easy so you have one less thing to worry about.
We have partnered with Prolacta Bioscience to collect, screen and prepare the donor milk for shipment. Your donation helps by:
Providing milk to orphaned, sick and hungry infants in South Africa and other countries in urgent need
Helping critically ill infants in neonatal intensive care units across the U.S.
Providing our program with sustainability and support
Helping us give grants to build capacity of milk banks in developing countries
How the IBMP-Prolacta Partnership Works:
Prolacta will process 25 percent of the first 400,000 ounces of donated breast milk for infants in South Africa and other countries in need where infants have been orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, or who are suffering from HIV/AIDS, malnourishment, poverty, and disease. The remaining 75 percent will remain in the United States to be used to make Prolacta's human-milk-derived Human Milk Fortifier for critically ill and premature infants in neonatal intensive care units. Should the breast milk donations exceed 400,000 ounces, 10 percent will be processed for shipment internationally, and the remaining 90 percent will stay in the United States. Additionally, Prolacta will donate one dollar to IBMP for every ounce of milk that remains in the U.S. For a diagram of how this model works, click here.
Your extra breast milk helps very low birth weight premature babies, and in return, Prolacta can help you by reimbursing up to $300 for your breast pump!
Due to the great response we received from our milk donors, Prolacta was able to supply needed nutritional products to even more very low birth weight, premature babies. We are pleased to announce that Prolacta has decided to offer a new breast pump reimbursement program through June 30, 2013! Your breast milk donation has always helped very low birth weight babies receive the nutrition they need, but now it can also help you recover the cost of your breast pump.
We truly appreciate the commitment our mothers make by donating their extra breast milk. Prolacta's policy has been to cover the costs associated with milk donation, which includes testing, breast milk storage bags, and shipping. We have also supplied a breast pump in the past; however, we found out that many of our moms already had a breast pump. That is why Prolacta is offering the opportunity for our generous moms to get reimbursed for the cost of their breast pump (a value up to $300)!
Terms and Conditions Apply:
Donors must complete the on-line application no later than June 30, 2013 and ship a minimum of 300 qualified ounces within their initial qualification period (123 days from date of blood sample collection). Multiple shipments are acceptable. Applications can be accepted only after a mother has delivered her baby. If you are a previous donor that needs to requalify because your qualification period has ended, you must complete the requalification application no later than June 30, 2013 and ship a minimum of 300 qualified ounces within the subsequent qualification period.
A milk receipt report is generated at the end of each month. You will receive your check 4-6 weeks after that report is received.
Milk volume will be as determined by Prolacta, in its sole discretion. Prolacta will weigh the milk using a calibrated scale, at the time and in the condition that it is received at Prolacta's facility, and calculate the volume based on measured weight, excluding any packaging materials, using Prolacta's standard operating procedures.
Qualified milk is donated milk which has met all the qualification guidelines. This includes two main phases: qualification of the donor and qualification of the milk she donates. Qualification of the donor includes medical history screening, freezer qualification, DNA profile creation, and viral blood screening. After the donor qualification is completed, she may send her milk to the milk bank. Once the milk is received at Prolacta Bioscience it must undergo and pass several rigorous testing procedures, including but not limited to, bacterial screening, drug screening, and DNA matching. Upon successful completion of these screening procedures, the milk is considered qualified for use in making 100% human milk fortifiers and standardized human milk for use in the NICU. Additionally, the temperature of the freezer in which the milk is stored will determine the acceptable dating of the milk, which can be between 5.5 and 10 months from collection.
Each donor can be eligible for only one reimbursement for donations made to any Prolacta-affiliated milk bank.
