Collage with images of baby, milk bank tech and bottled donor milk

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from August 1-7 to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.

For preterm babies, many mothers are unable to provide the necessary volume of milk due to medical reasons. The Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank collects extra breast milk from lactating women who have been screened and approved, pasteurizes it, and distributes it by prescription to medically fragile babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Units across Ontario.

Donating breastmilk can help save a preterm baby’s life by dramatically reducing the rate of a life threatening medical complication. Studies have shown that rates of necrotizing enterocolitis (a severe bowel condition that preterm babies are prone to), were reduced by 5.4% when they were given donor milk.

This week, the Milk Bank, located at Mount Sinai Hospital, launched its very first newsletter. To read the latest news and learn about one of our amazing donors, click here. To stay abreast of any future stories, you can also subscribe to the mailing list here.