Human Milk Banking Association of North America
{{Short description|Milk bank accrediting organization of North America}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Human Milk Banking Association of North America
| abbreviation = HMBANA
| logo = File:HMBANA_logo.png
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| type = Nonprofit
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| headquarters = Fort Worth, Texas
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| services = milk bank accreditation, standards development, lactation advocacy
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| leader_title = Executive Director
| leader_name = Lindsay B. Groff
| leader_title2 = President
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| website = {{URL|hmbana.org}}
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The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) is a not-for-profit organization that accredits nonprofit milk banks in the United States and Canada, produces the standards and guidelines for donated breast milk in North America, and promotes lactation and breast feeding.{{cite web |title=CHOP Mothers' Milk Bank |date=17 November 2015 |url=https://www.chop.edu/services/chop-mothers-milk-bank |publisher=Children's Hospital of Philadelphia |access-date=1 June 2022}} The organization was founded in 1985. As of 2022, it has thirty-one member milk banks, including twenty-eight in the US and three in Canada. HMBANA is accredited by the US FDA, and is funded by membership dues and donations.
Operations
HMBANA member banks provide donor milk to NICUs on a cost-recovery basis. In 2021, member banks distributed {{convert|9.2|e6USfloz|L}} of breast milk, a 22% increase over the prior year. During the 2022 United States infant formula shortage, HMBANA saw a twenty percent increase in requests for donor milk, and increased donor applications.
HMBANA member banks screen potential donors for communicable diseases, medications, and illicit drug use. Donated milk is pooled to ensure consistency, pasteurized at {{convert|62.5|C|F}} for 30 minutes, and tested for bacterial pathogens both before and after pasteurization. The milk is stored frozen until delivery. Donated milk is prioritized for "medically fragile" babies, and may be prescribed for preterm infants, or those with malabsorption, feeding intolerance, immune deficiency, or who have undergone gastrointestinal surgery. When donor milk is available for healthy infants, up to {{convert|40|USfloz|mL}} may be purchased without a prescription, at a typical cost of $3 to $5 an ounce. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against sharing breastmilk outside of accredited milk banks.
HMBANA-authored publications include 2018 Guidelines for the Establishment and Operation of a Donor Human Milk Bank; 2019 Fourth Edition of Best Practice for Expressing, Storing and Handling Human Milk in Hospitals, Homes, and Child Care Settings; and Lactation Support for the Bereaved Mother.
HMBANA is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, but is incorporated in Connecticut.
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite news |last1=Ryssdal |first1=Kai |last2=Amin |first2=Anais |title='There will always be a need for donor milk,' says leader of a milk bank |url=https://www.marketplace.org/2022/02/17/there-will-always-be-a-need-for-donor-milk-says-leader-of-a-milk-bank/ |access-date=1 June 2022 |work=Marketplace |date=February 17, 2022}}
{{cite news |last1=Ceron |first1=Ella |title=Demand Is Up at Human Milk Banks Amid Baby Formula Crisis |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-16/how-the-baby-formula-shortage-is-increasing-demand-for-human-milk-at-donor-banks |access-date=1 June 2022 |work=Bloomberg |date=May 16, 2022}}
{{cite news |last1=Joyce |first1=Amy |title=Breast milk banks won't solve the formula crisis, but they're a lifeline |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2022/05/19/breast-milk-banks-formula-shortage/ |access-date=1 June 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 19, 2022}}
}}
Category:Health charities in the United States
Category:Professional associations based in the United States