Human Milk Donation Day, also known as World Donor Milk Day, is celebrated on May 19.
World Donor Milk Day highlights the importance of human milk donors and their contributions to nourishing vulnerable babies, particularly those in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The Baby Friendly Initiative team at Fraser Health is grateful to all milk donors for providing raw human milk donations.
People donate milk for various reasons. For new mom Sandeep Thiara-Basi, it’s the thought of milk going down the drain that prompts her to give. As a labour and delivery nurse in the Family Birthing Unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital, she sees very premature babies. Donor milk helps with their journey into the world.
Sandeep gave birth to a healthy baby girl last September. She has more milk than her young daughter needs, so she freezes it and donates it to the North Delta Public Health Unit. “I keep it frozen and when my freezer is nearly full, I load it in a cooler with ice packs and drop it off at the health unit,” says Sandeep.
The frozen milk is then shipped to BC Women's Provincial Milk Bank where it is pooled, pasteurized and stored for future use.
Sandeep’s “milk bank account” is growing rapidly. As of May 15, she had donated 100,725 cubic centimetres, or just over 100 litres of milk. The interest (in the milk bank) is growing daily.
Learn more
For additional information, visit fraserhealth.ca/donormilk.
