The Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies, a 501c3 nonprofit, is accredited by and a proud member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA).
Our mission is to improve infant health outcomes by ensuring that medically vulnerable babies in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest have access to safely pasteurized life-giving donor human milk when mother’s milk is unavailable or in low supply.
What is a donor human milk bank?
A milk bank is a facility which processes donor human milk for distribution to medically fragile infants. The donated milk comes from lactating mothers who have extra breast milk beyond what their children need. To ensure the safety of the milk, donors are approved through a process that includes a health and lifestyle screen and a blood test. Once approved, the donor’s frozen milk is transported to the milk bank where it is pasteurized, tested, and frozen until it is shipped to hospitals for medically fragile babies in NICUs, Special Care Nurseries, and other inpatient settings. If available, infants can also receive donor milk after leaving the hospital.
To find other HMBANA member milk banks, see Find a Milk Bank.
At the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies (MMBB), we are committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and supportive environment for all individuals and families. We believe that every infant deserves access to human milk for the best start in life, and we are dedicated to eliminating barriers to accessing this vital resource. To read our equity statement in full, please click here.