How It Works

For families

If you’re here because you’re in need of human milk for your baby, take a deep breath. You’ve come to the right place, because we’re here to help make it safe, easy, and accessible for everyone. All babies deserve the lifesaving nourishment of human milk for the best possible start in life.

Families may receive a maximum of 40 ounces of donor milk without a prescription; all requests after the first 40 ounces require a prescription from your physician if you are getting insurance to reimburse you for the cost. We recommend contacting your physician first if you’re considering a long-term supply of human donor milk. Get started today, or continue to read below for more information. 

For healthcare providers and hospitals

Mothers’ Milk Bank routinely distributes more than one million ounces of donor milk annually to hospitals and families across the United States. As a charter member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), we have helped set the gold standard for the operation of milk banking organizations nationwide.

Join our growing network of hospitals and families receiving safe, pasteurized human donor milk today

If you would like to receive donor human milk at your NICU or Maternity hospital we recommend contacting your doctor and asking if they provide donor human milk for newborn infants. Hospitals in California must have a tissue bank license in order to provide donor human milk to patients. We too have a tissue license. Therefore we are one of the few milk banks who can collaborate with California hospitals in full compliance.

Here’s what you need to know:

Mothers’ Milk Bank is registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), accredited by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), and a licensed tissue bank. We follow strict guidelines in order to distribute pasteurized human donor milk to hospitals and outpatient families across the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska.

Most of our outpatient recipients are premature infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), but here are other reasons that a doctor would prescribe donor milk:

• Death or absence of mother
• Failing immune system
• Insufficient lactation of mother
• Adopted, foster, or surrogate babies
• Illness or health risk from the biological mother that prevents or requires interruption in breastfeeding.

Donor milk offers all of the benefits of a mother’s own milk:

• Promotes brain development
• Lowers respiratory infections
• Easy digestibility
• Acts like a vaccine by transferring antibodies (Anti-Virus and Anti-Allergies)
• Lowers the risk of asthma, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), obesity, and type 2 diabetes