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Journal of Food Technology and Preservation | Volume 3
March 07-09, 2019 | London, UK
2nd International Conference on
7th International Conference on
Food Safety and Hygiene
Nutrition, Food Science and Technology
Joint Event
&
Opportunities to increase breastfeeding rates are sought
globally. The recent scientific advances in knowledge of
breastmilk have added to the imperative to work towards a
world in which all infants are breastfed. The availability of safe,
donated human milk offers the opportunity to fill the gap that
arises when babies are unable to receive their own mother’s
milk. The availability and appropriate use of processed,
screened, donated human milk has been shown to support
maternal lactation and breastfeeding of pretermand sick infants
on neonatal units as well as help to prevent infant morbidities
including necrotising enterocolitis.
The banking of human milk for donation to unrelated infants
is increasing globally. In 2018, the total number of human milk
banks has grown to more than 650. These are sited in over 60
different countries and include newly established milk banks
in Asia and Africa as well as throughout Europe. In addition,
innovative models have recently been introduced to Australia,
India and within Europe. A comparison of approaches to the
provision of human milk for infants whose mothers are unable
to breastfeed will be presented. This presentation will provide
a global overview of the changing patterns within human milk
banking and look closely at the processes and practices that
are in common usage and what can be expected to become
integrated into milk banking in the future.
Speaker Biography
Gillian Weaver has specialised in the field of human milk banking and breastfeeding
for thirty years. She managed the longest continually operating milk bank in the world
at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in West London and oversaw its growth
in activity and influence between 1989 and 2015. In 1996 Gillian proposed and co-
founded the UK Association for Milk Banking (UKAMB – ) and ten
years later was instrumental in the foundation of the European Milk Bank Association
(EMBA – . As the Chair / Forum lead of UKAMB
and the President (2012-2015) / Board Member of EMBA she led the organisation
of many international conferences and was a key member in the development
of internationally recognized guidelines, including the NICE Clinical Guideline 93
(Donor Milk Banks; Service Operation). Since January 2016, Gillian has combined two
roles. As an international human milk banking consultant she provides advice and
recommendations to aid the establishment of human milk banks globally including
in Australia, India, Kenya and Vietnam. Together with Dr Natalie Shenker she is co-
founder and director of the Hearts Milk Bank (HMB) providing assured supplies of
donor human milk to hospital NNUs throughout the South and East of England and
to babies at home. The HMB was recently recognized by NESTA and the Observer
newspaper as one of 50 ‘New Radicals’ for 2018, described as changing the UK for
the better by developing creative ways of tackling society’s biggest challenges. Gillian
lectures widely, writes on human milk banking and actively contributes to projects of
global importance related to the strengthening of human milk banking models. She
was a member of the ICCBBA Technical Advisory Group that agreed the ISBT128 coding
system for human milk to facilitate consistency in coding and recently acted as an
expert panel member within the EU’s Horizon2020 programme.
e:
Gillian Weaver
Hearts Milk Bank, UK
Global and European perspectives on the Banking of Human Milk
Gillian Weaver, J Food Technol Pres, Volume 3
DOI: 10.4066/2591-796X-C1-004