Characteristics of breast milk and serology of women donating breast milk to a milk bank.

OBJECTIVE Breast milk is the most important nutrient to all newborn babies. If the mother's milk production is insufficient, it is important to provide donor breast milk without reduction of its immunologic and antimicrobial properties. Early use of breast milk to preterm infants has shown a reduced incidence of necrotising enterocolitis, a faster tolerance of enteral feeding, and a reduced need of parenteral nutrition. It is important to have milk from a CMV-IgG negative donor to VLBW infants considered immunocompromised. METHODS Between January 1st and December 31st 2001, 69 women delivered 1.973 litres (mean 28.6 litres/woman/year). 73% had college education, were primipara, and with a mean age of 30.7 years. Those who smoked, used alcohol or any medications were refused as donors. They started to deliver approximately 7 weeks after having given birth and continued for a mean of 4 months. Each milk sample was tested for bacterial growth. Every donor was screened for HIV, CMV-IgG and hepatitis B/C before donating milk and thereafter every third month. RESULTS 62.3% was CMV-IgG positive. Samples containing staphylococcus aureus, klebsialla-, enterobacter- and serratia-species or E. coli, and all samples containing > 10(4) cfu/ml were pasteurised. Overall, only 10.5% of the samples were pasteurised. CONCLUSION It is possible and important to provide VLBW babies with fresh frozen unpasteurised CMV-IgG negative breast milk until their own mothers' milk production is sufficient.