Milk Tips for Donors
So your Liquid Gold can be used!
Our priorities are milk safety and quality. Our batches are made with great care with attention to detail. Maintaining safety and quality of the milk are the standard from the first moment we talk to a prospective donor, to the time it is dispensed to hospitals and medically fragile babies. These tips will help to ensure that your donation will be used to help save more lives of babies in need.
On behalf of the Milk Bank staff, thank you so much for your gift and for helping us to achieve our mission!
10 Easy Tips To Ensure Your Milk Can Be Used
The following tips will help to ensure the use of your donation in our batches. Premature babies in the NICU face more challenges than full-term healthy babies and because it is such a critical time different precautions are taken. Thank you!
Milk Storage Requirements
We accept milk from approved donors that is less than eight months old and that is pumped up to the baby’s second birthday.
Milk donation can occur if:
- Milk is stored in single-use, sterile breast milk pump bags or bottles.
- Storage bags are not overfilled.
- We do not accept milk stored in glass jars, ice cube/milk trays, zip bags or containers not intended for breast milk storage.
- Each bag or bottle is dated with the date (mm/dd/year) the milk was pumped.
- Milk is not scalded/heated before freezing or thawed and then re-frozen.
- Milk is frozen within 4 days (less than 24 hours preferred) of pumping. If using the pooling/pitcher method, see guidelines below.
- It does not contain restricted medication or alcohol.
- Pump parts have been cleaned after each use.*
To maximize the amount of your liquid gold that can be used by minimizing the risk of bacterial contamination, it is strongly preferred that milk be stored from a single pumping session. If you decide to combine or pool your milk, please follow these guidelines:
Combined/Pooled Milk Storage (Pitcher Method)
- Do not combine milk pumped on different dates.
- Freeze milk within 24 hours.
- Do not add warm milk to refrigerated milk. Cool milk 3-4 hours first before combining.
- Pump parts should be cleaned after each use. Pitcher should be cleaned and sanitized after each use.
* How to Clean and Sanitize Breast Pumps (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Use Google Chrome Translate feature for other language versions.
If you don’t currently follow these guidelines or for other questions about milk donation/storage, please reach out to our team at donatemilk@mnmilkbank.org or 763-290-1865 to speak with a donor coordinator.
