After pouring in following October 7, critical human milk donations now run dry

Hundreds of paper hearts and stars adorn the walls of the Sussman Family Foundation Human Milk Bank. On each is the name of a woman who donated breast milk for babies other than her own.

These paper hearts and stars exploded in number immediately after October 7, when many infants no longer had access to human milk because their mothers had been murdered, wounded, taken captive to Gaza or called up for reserve military duty.

Thanks to a flood of donations, the milk bank has so far provided around two tons of human milk to these babies.

However, donations have largely dried up as the war has dragged on, and most of those babies — eligible for the donated milk for only six months — have been shifted to formula or cow’s milk.

“We still have some reserves, but I am somewhat worried about the future. If there is a major second phase to the war and a need for thousands of more liters, there will be problems,” said the bank’s director, Dr. Sharron Bransburg-Zabary.

Housed at Magen David Adom’s Marcus National Blood Services Center in Ramle, the bank is Israel’s national and sole repository and processing center for human milk.

Dr. Sharon Bransburg-Zabary, director of the Sussman Family Foundation Human Milk Bank stands in front of a wall honoring the hundreds of women who collectively contributed more than 1.7 tons of human milk since October 7, 2023. (Renee Ghert-Zand/TOI)

Before the war, the donated milk processed was only for premature or sick infants in hospitals. Following October 7, the Health Ministry instructed the bank to assume emergency mode. This meant not only stepping up production but also being in contact directly with recipient families for the first time and making home deliveries.

Having recently moved into the newly opened National Blood Services Center, the bank and its small staff were up to the task.

“This milk bank is a more advanced facility than in other places. Usually [a milk bank] is a room in a hospital. Here we designed a facility that is highly oriented toward quality and not just safety,” Bransburg-Zabary said.

The first and impossible-to-miss sign of this is the yellow light bathing the laboratory area where the milk is tested, processed and stored. Bransburg-Zabary explained that yellow filters are used to eliminate blue wavelengths that can destroy the vitamins in the milk. Lab technicians use amber-colored glass containers for the same reason.

Thawing and rotating donated human milk inside a laminar chamber at the Sussman Family Foundation Human Milk Bank at the Magen David Adom Marcus National Blood Services Center, Ramle. (Courtesy)

The bank can pasteurize expressed milk that was frozen in proper conditions (-20 degrees Celsius) in a woman’s home. After processing, the milk can be stored for three to six months in special -80 degrees Celsius freezers at the bank.

“These freezers are something special that we have. We also use special vacuum pumps so that there are no debris or leftovers on the glass containers we use,” Bransburg-Zabary said.

Before the war, the bank produced between 160 and 170 liters per day for use in hospital settings and kept 400 liters as an emergency reserve. Soon after October 7, the output tripled.

Processing donated human milk at the Sussman Family Foundation Human Milk Bank at the Magen David Adom Marcus National Blood Services Center, Ramle. (Courtesy)

“We tripled the amount of milk collection through the increase in the number of donors and more than tripled the number of recipients,” Bransburg-Zabary noted.

But keeping donors motivated has been a challenge, especially while they are holding down the fort at home and  their partners are fighting on the front lines.

“It is very difficult for women to express surplus milk and to actually donate it. It is hard to find the time and energy when their partners are away in the army. The economic conditions are also very troubling for new moms, and don’t forget that they are not being paid for their donations. Overall, the entire atmosphere is very dark,” Bransburg-Zabary lamented.

Taking human milk samples for microbiological tests and nutritional profiling at the Sussman Family Foundation Human Milk Bank at the Magen David Adom Marcus National Blood Services Center, Ramle. (Courtesy)

While Bransburg-Zabary understands the new mothers’ situation, she is determined to replenish the bank’s coffers of what she calls “white gold.”

There has been much speculation about electricity being cut off to large parts of the country should the conflict with Hezbollah in the north escalate. In such an event, many bags of frozen human milk in home freezers would thaw and spoil before MDA crews could reach them.

For this reason, Bransburg-Zabary encourages more lactating women to donate their milk and arrange for it to be brought promptly to the milk bank, where it can remain safely frozen thanks to backup electrical systems.

More information on making and receiving human milk donations can be found here.