Doing the milk round – sending milk stores far and wide to support neonatal services
We'd like to say a big thank you to all of the generous mums at our Women's Hospital who continue to donate breast milk to help the recovery of sick babies across the country through our hospital's milk bank. 
Last year, our milk bank received 7,870 litres of milk donated by 138 donors, with 6,570 litres of this milk being sent to neonatal units across the UK. Even though many women provide their own breast milk to their babies on neonatal units due to its unique composition and anti-infective properties, the reality is that some women are not able to, sometimes due to geographical separation or maternal illness.
Across our own neonatal services, our team have provided 56 litres of milk to 66 babies being cared for at our Women’s Hospital. Launched in 1950, our milk bank donations have helped to support babies in neonatal units who are born prematurely or are unwell, and in need of human milk to recover at a quicker rate.
Dr Gemma Holder, Consultant Neonatologist said: “Donations are crucial - our donations play a huge part in providing the necessary care for our unwell babies in our neonatal unit, as breast milk is vital at protecting our extremely sick babies.
“We’d like to say a huge thank you to all of those generous women who donate their breast milk to help protect our tiny babies. We know that many hospitals are in need of human milk for their neonatal services which is why we supply milk to surrounding hospitals throughout the UK. 
“We encourage other hospitals to get in touch if they’re in need of our donor milk supply services, to continue providing unwell and premature babies with the milk that they need to support their recovery.”
Local hospitals that we send our milk donations to include City Hospital, Russell’s Hall, Heartlands, New Cross, Walsall Manor, Bromsgrove and Worcester, as well as other medical locations across Hereford, Warwick and Coventry. In the wider areas, our milk bank donations reach as far as hospitals based in Llanfrechfa, Glangwili and Bodelwyddan in areas of Wales.
During Covid-19, our milk bank team also supported hospitals such as Blackpool Victoria, Cardiff University, Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Glan Clwyd in Wales, Warrington Hospital, Royal Stoke University Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
To ensure supplies remain full of the important antibodies needed to support infant recovery, our hospital provides same-day and next-day delivery for neonatal services across the UK, with our dedicated volunteer bike drivers. If neonatal services are in urgent need of milk supplies, our milk bank team also provide a seamless out-of-hours milk supply to surrounding hospitals provided by the litre.