Why Donate?
Breast milk has been shown in clinical research studies to help babies resist infections and decrease the incidence of serious diseases, such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), sepsis, bacterial meningitis, and ear infections. It contains many components that help protect babies from infection and disease including: proteins (Secretory IgA, lactoferrin and lysosyme) and carbohydrates (oligosaccharides). Human milk also contains nutrients such as lipids, vitamins and trace minerals that support the developing immune system.1 The antibodies found in breast milk, as well as other human protective molecules are not present in other forms of milk, such as cow’s milk-based fortifier or preterm infant formula (premature formula).
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recognized that breast milk alone does not meet the increased nutritional needs of premature infants.2 When babies are born too soon, their doctors add a human milk fortifier (HMF) to mother’s breast milk. Until now, human milk fortifiers (also commonly called breast milk fortifier) have been cow’s milk-based powders. Prolacta® is the first and only company to offer a human milk-based HMF made from 100% human milk—Prolact+ H2MF. The breast milk used to make Prolact+ H2MF is donated voluntarily by mothers who want to give their extra breast milk to help others. It is pasteurized, concentrated, fortified with minerals, and manufactured under strict quality-control processes to ensure consistent quality, nutrient content, and safe use.
A recent study published in the Journal of Pediatrics demonstrated that Prolact+ H2MF (when combined with human milk) reduced the odds of developing NEC by 77% in premature infants weighing less than 1250g at birth, when compared to those infants fed human milk fortified with cow’s milk-based HMF or premature formula.3
A mother’s breast milk donation is the only way a critically ill, premature infant can receive a purely human milk-based diet.
- Hanson, L. Immunobiology of Human Milk: How Breastfeeding Protects Babies; 2004
- Kleinman R, ed. Pediatric Nutrition Handbook, 6th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2009:31-39;51-94.
- Sullivan S, Schanler RJ, Kim JH, et al. An exclusively human-milk based diet is associated with a lower rate of nectrotizing enterocolitis than a diet of human milk and bovine milk-based products; 2009.