Got breast milk? Premature babies across Quebec need your help

Demand for donated breast milk is on the rise across Quebec as an increasing number of neonatal intensive care units rely on the generosity of new mothers to save the lives of premature babies.

To meet that spike in demand, Héma-Québec needs about 2,000 donors — twice as many as last year — to supply about 4,000 litres of breast milk in 2020. 

Mothers who give birth prematurely often have difficulty producing milk, but that milk can be the difference between life and death as the nutritious food is one of the most effective means of staving off necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

Premies born at 32 weeks or less are particularly vulnerable to the potentially deadly gastrointestinal infection, but Héma-Québec says preterm infants are three times less likely to develop the disease when fed mother's milk.

"This is the main reason why we were asked by neonatal intensive care unit physicians to create such a bank in the province of Quebec five years ago," said Laurent-Paul Ménard, a spokesperson for Héma-Québec.

He said the agency is constantly on the lookout for new donors because nursing moms can only donate excess milk if their babies are no older than 12 months. 

Héma-Québec's Public Mothers' Milk Bank was launched in April 2014. It is one of four such banks in Canada.

There's been a recent increase in the number of participating hospitals in Quebec, Ménard said, and that means more milk is needed.

Just like donating blood, donors must go through a screening process. For example, donors must be non-smokers, in good health and able to produce a surplus of milk.

"Once everything is done and set, the mother will receive at her own home, bottles and supplies needed to collect for her milk," said Ménard. 

"She only has to put the milk that she collects in her freezer."

Héma-Québec will then send a courier in the greater Montreal and Quebec City areas. There are also drop-off points in various regions across Quebec. The milk is pasteurized before being served to premature babies in intensive care units.

The agency provides detailed information about how to donate on its website.