More donors are needed for Northern Ireland’s only human milk bank – which helps premature and seriously ill babies, the health minister has said.
Robin Swann visited the facility at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen, which provides milk to all health trusts in Northern Ireland as well as 20 hospitals in the Republic.
It has been operational since 2000 and processes more than 1,600 litres of human donor expressed breast milk (DEBM) a year for use in neonatal and infant surgical units.
Mr Swann said: “Safe and screened donor breast milk makes an important contribution to the care of premature and sick infants.
“It also helps to significantly reduce the number of cot days required by babies in neonatal units.
“The bank has seen a 25% increase in demand since 2020 and therefore is appealing for more women to come forward and help provide essential donor breast milk for premature and seriously ill babies.”
He added: “The generosity of donors, voluntary drivers and the dedicated team in the bank have helped thousands of vulnerable babies since 2000 and I want to place on record my sincere thanks to them.”
The human milk bank is one of four across the UK and the only one on the island of Ireland.
In 2021, the milk bank recruited 375 new donors which allowed it to issue DEBM to 844 babies.
It supports premature and ill babies including premature twins, triplets and quads, supporting mothers who are unable to produce enough milk of their own.
Hilary Campbell, head of service for public health at the Western Trust, said: “This is an incredible service which helps to provide essential donor breast milk for babies in neonatal units in hospitals throughout Ireland.
“Last year the human milk bank provided donor milk for 844 premature babies, of which 234 were either a twin or a triplet.
“So you can see it is essential that we continue to recruit donors at this time.
“We would appeal to expectant mums to consider becoming a donor and for our donor mums to spread the word about the human milk bank as this is the best way to help us recruit new mums.”
During his visit to the South West Acute Hospital in Co Fermanagh, Mr Swann also visited the children’s ward where he received an update on ongoing work to increase paediatric surgical activity following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on waiting lists.
He also met with the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) specialist organ donation staff.
