Use of mother's milk

The Public Mothers’ Milk Bank provides pasteurized mothers’ milk for very premature infants requiring hospital care.

In the absence of mothers’ milk, the bank milk is especially indicated for premature infants up to 32 weeks of age because it is associated, on average, with 3.3 times less risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis compared with infant formulas.

Unlike IgG immunoglobulins transferred from mother to child through the placenta before birth, a child does not acquire IgAs through transplacental transmission from the mother. Instead, the IgAs transferred through the mother’s milk directly protect the digestive tract, influencing the intestinal flora and the immune system’s development. According to an observational study of 101 mothers, IgAs are most abundant in the colostrum, with a concentration of up to 3.102 g/L for mothers who gave birth at less than 32 weeks of gestation compared with 0.076 g/L for IgGs, and 0.017 g/l for IgMs.

According to that same study, pasteurization reduces the quantity of IgAs in the mother’s milk to 2.032 g/L, which is a 34.5% reduction. Although it isn’t proven that these immunoglobulins directly protect premature infants from necrotizing enterocolitis, it’s still interesting to note that, unlike infant formulas in which IgAs are absent, their concentration remains relatively high in human milk, even after pasteurization.

The contents of a bottle of mothers’ milk can go to multiple babies. The hospital is responsible for keeping the data regarding the administration of mothers’ milk in the recipient(s) file.

Mothers’ milk must not be used if the premature infant has galactosemia, congenital lactase deficiency, glucose/galactose transporter deficiency, or some glycogen storage diseases.

For more information, read the Informational circular on pasteurized human milk.