ORGANIZING THE WORK OF THE DONOR BREAST MILK BANK AT THE LVIV PERINATAL CENTER IS AN EXPERIENCE THAT MOTIVATES FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Human milk is considered the primary source of nutrition for breastfed infants and is justifiably regarded as the “gold standard.” Errors in feeding breastfed infants negatively affect not only the child’s physical health but also their functional capacities. No substitute for human milk can compete with the presence of biologically active substances inherent to the mother-child symbiosis. However, in the medical care of premature infants and ill full-term neonates, situations arise when human milk is unavailable, even though it is critically needed by the child. In such cases, the best alternative to maternal breast milk is pasteurized donor human milk, which is made accessible through the Donor Human Milk Bank at the Lviv Regional Perinatal Center. In this public healthcare institution, a complete cycle of neonatal care for newborns is successfully implemented in accordance with modern, internationally recognized standards. One example of contemporary, evidence-based standards for feeding newborns—who, for various reasons, cannot be fed maternal human milk—is the operation of the Donor Human Milk Bank. Its equipment and functioning, with the support of the Polish Human Milk Banks Association, meet the highest global standards. Information about the activities of the Human Milk Bank is disseminated to pregnant women through thematic lectures at the Academy of Parenthood. There, a personalized approach is successfully implemented for each pregnant woman, potential donor of breast milk, as well as for each woman who has delivered a live child. Active and substantive advisory work with potential donors serves as a guarantee for increasing the number of women willing to donate. The selection of donors and the operation of the Donor Human Milk Bank are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the clinical guideline “Collection, Storage, Transportation, Processing, and Banking of Donor Human Milk,” which was approved at the national level in Ukraine in 2022. Since the inception of the Donor Human Milk Bank in December 2022, a total of 1254 liters of donor human milk have been collected from 127 donor women. The longest donation period lasted 11 months, during which one donor collected 50 liters of human milk. The highest amount of donor human milk collected from a single donor in one month was 55 liters. Donor milk has most frequently been used for infants in the post-intensive care unit as well as for the care of premature infants and ill full-term newborns. Overall, about one-quarter of the infants born at the perinatal center have received donor human milk annually since December 2022. Looking ahead, the Lviv Perinatal Center plans to meet the demand for donor human milk in all neonatology departments throughout the Lviv region that provide comprehensive medical care for both premature and full-term newborns. The establishment and expansion of a network of Donor Human Milk Banks may play a strategically important role in ensuring the provision of donor human milk to needy newborns during the current wartime situation in Ukraine and amid a severe demographic crisis.