Donor Milk

The NICU at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, is one of only seven NICUs in LA County to offer pasteurized human donor milk (PHDM) to premature or critically ill infants, when mother’s own milk is not available during hospitalization. The use of PHDM is an exciting addition to the state-of-the-art care provided to Miller Children’s critically ill and premature babies.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health, “Mother’s breast milk is being strongly recommended to decrease illnesses, shorten hospital stays, and improve long-term health.” Mother’s own milk is always recommended, but if not available, PHDM offers many advantages similar to mother’s own milk. This is especially important to premature babies who need all the extra natural immunities and defenses possible.

PHDM Advantages:

• Easy digestibility
• Growth factors to help improve tissues and the gastrointestinal tract
• Immunologic protection against many organism and disease compared with the use of artificial formula

Miller Children’s PHDM is supplied by the Mother’s Milk Bank of San Jose. Mother’s who donate extra milk go through a rigorous screening process. Once approved, their donated human milk is heat treated (pasteurized), destroying all bacteria, viruses and white blood cells. Many enzymes, growth factors, immune factors, vitamins and minerals are unchanged or only slightly decreased. Babies are individually assessed for eligibility.

Visit hmbana.org to find out more about PHDM. For more information on the PHDM program at Miller Children’s, call the NICU Lactation Support Office at (562) 933-8117.