The majority of donated milk is used to feed premature and sick babies who are at high risk for illnesses and infections. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a devastating bowel disease, is 10 times more common in premature babies fed formula compared with those babies fed human milk. The majority of mothers whose babies are born premature struggle to establish their milk production and keep it going well enough to meet their baby’s needs. Sometimes the mother is ill as well as her baby or may be on medications that don’t permit her to feed her milk to her baby. Human milk contains antibodies that fight infection as well as growth hormones which help babies grow and develop. Donating your extra milk is truly a gift that lasts a lifetime!

Please check donating milk to see if you meet the requirements to donate milk. If you do, please fill in this form or call us and leave a message at 604-875-3743. We will call you back as soon as possible. We  appreciate your call. Before attempting to drop off milk to a milk collection depot, you must have completed the screening process. Once you are notified by the Milk Bank that you are a completed donor, call the depot that you plan to use to confirm times and location for drop off. If you plan to courier, please call BC Women’s Hospital Provincial Milk Bank at 604-875-2424, local 7634 to confirm times and courier arrangements, before calling the courier.‎

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide pumps. We do have some milk storage bags . Please check with your depot or the milk bank directly.

Because of the cost of screening, we screen mothers willing to donate at least 4-5 litres (150 oz) of milk.

Human milk is pasteurized to ensure a safe product. Pasteurization maintains most of the anti-infective properties of fresh human milk.

Donors complete a short verbal and written questionnaire. Their doctor or midwife is consulted and blood tests are done at a local lab. The blood tests include: HIV-1, HIV-2, HTLV-1, HTVV-2, Syphilis, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

If you drink alcohol every day, you cannot donate to the milk bank. If you have an occasional drink, please wait six hours after one drink and 12 hours after more then one drink to express milk for donation.

Unfortunately no. Some medications taken regularly disqualify you as a donor. Check with the Milk Bank if you are taking any medications.

Use of an asthma inhaler is acceptable for milk donation.

‎Please do not pool milk. When a donor pools milk (adds pumped milk to previously pumped milk) the bacterial content in the milk tends to increase. Check with the Milk Bank if you have pooled milk and wish to donate. 

Donors are healthy mothers who have completed the screening process. They are able to produce more milk than their babies need. 

• Donor screening
  
• Delivery of milk: receiving, testing, logging & storing unprocessed milk in the freezers
  
• Bacteriological screening: sample is sent for testing
  
• Preparation for pasteurization: defrosting milk, scrubbing for processing, preparing the pasteurizers and milk
  
• Pasteurizing: placing the bottles into the pasteurizer & removing on completion of a cycle
  
• Quality control measures: temperature monitoring throughout process, drying, sealing and labeling bottles
  
• Bacteriological testing: sending one bottle of milk from each batch for testing
  
• Cleaning:  all equipment and preparation area
  
• Documentation: completing all the recording of donors, number of bottles, batch numbers, pasteurization temperatures.
  
• Storage: placing milk in appropriate freezer
  
• Distribution: reviewing all completed lab reports and distributing processed tested milk to selected neonatal intensive care units and babies living in the community that require donor milk