Milk bank at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital

Who are we and what do we do?

Our Milk Bank serves Neonatal Units at Imperial College Healthcare Trust (Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea and St Mary’s hospitals) and various other London hospitals. We operate with the mission of ensuring that safe and screened donor breast milk is readily available to every vulnerable newborn who would benefit from its use. We value the support of SERV (Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers) motorcyclists who collect and deliver donor milk.

Why is donor milk essential?

Recognised by the World Health Organization, breastfeeding is an essential aspect of newborn care. While mother’s own breast milk is the ideal source of nutrition, sometimes it's unavailable or insufficient due to delays in establishing a mother's own supply, or if a mother is unable to breast feed due to physical illness.

Human milk banks can offer safe screened donor human milk as a crucial alternative to infant formula. Human milk is especially critical for premature babies, babies with low birth weight and sick infants. In such situations, donor milk is the second-best choice for feeding these vulnerable babies. The majority of infants only need it for a few early days when the mother’s milk is coming in, therefore donor breast milk can act as “a bridge to breastfeeding” during early challenges and support mothers and their baby's while establishing their own supply. Sometimes due to difficulties in lactation, illness or adverse complications, mothers are unable to provide any or sufficient milk, and babies may stay on the donor breastmilk for a longer period.

Donor milk is recommended by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and helps thousands of premature and poorly babies across the UK.

What are the benefits of breastmilk?

• Boosts babies’ immune system
• Reduces the risk of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC)
• Provides essential nutrients, growth factors, and hormones
• Improves brain development
• Easily digestible, absorbed more efficiently than formula milks

Who can donate breast milk?

Donating your breastmilk is one of the most precious gifts that you can offer, thank you for your thought and consideration. We recruit actively lactating parents’ who are within six months post-partum, and eligible based on our health and lifestyle eligibility questionnaire. For example, if you have a baby younger than six months old we would love to hear from you – we can usually accept milk up until the time your baby is one year old.

Who cannot donate breast milk?

Unfortunately, we cannot accept donations from individuals who smoke, use nicotine patches, take certain medications, have had recent tattoos or body piercings, received a yellow fever vaccine in the last six months, or recently returned from countries with endemic infections.

How are donors screened?

Similar to becoming a blood donor, potential donors complete our health and lifestyle eligibility questionnaire. If eligible, screening for infections such as HIV, HTLV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis is required. You can have your blood tests locally or at Imperial College Healthcare Trust Hospitals.

What happens after screening?

If you are eligible to donate, the Milk Bank will send a detailed donor information pack to you, including instructions on collecting and storing milk, as well as equipment for donation e.g. bottles and a freezer thermometer. We hope that donors will ideally contribute at least 1.5 litres over an 8-week period, collected directly from your door via volunteer courier bikes.

Support during the donation process

The milk bank offers continuous support, emphasising good communication and providing access to lactation consultants if needed.

How is donor milk processed and used?

All donated milk is processed according to NICE guidance, ensuring safety and quality. Milk is frozen within 24 hours of expression and stored at a freezer temperature of -18C or lower.

Donor milk is labelled with a unique number for traceability purposes and processed in batches, tested for bacteria, and pasteurised (a special heat treatment) within three months of expression. 

Following screening, processing and pasteurising, donor milk is re-tested for bacteria before it is issued to neonatal intensive care units. Here the donor milk will be defrosted and given to babies via a feeding tube or bottle.

Donor breast milk is used anonymously. A donors details will be kept confidential by the milk bank staff. The milk bank keeps all records related to you and your milk so that we can trace milk if ever required. The babies’ parents receiving the milk and staff using milk will not receive information about you and similarly you won’t be given information about the babies who are receiving your milk.

Unfortunately, the process and regulations prevent the return of donated milk to the donor.

How do I become a breast milk donor?

Thank you for taking the time to read the information above, and for considering becoming a breast milk donor – we are incredibly grateful. If you would like to become a milk donor or receive more information about the process here at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital Milk Bank, please fill out our online health and lifestyle eligibility questionnaire and we will contact you with next steps.