The Maternidad Alfredo da Costa (MAC) Human Milk Bank, in Lisbon, has fed about 3,500 premature babies in 15 years, as a result of the cooperation of 550 women who donated their baby food surpluses.
On World Human Milk Donation Day, celebrated on Sunday, the Local Health Unit (ULS) of São José, of which MAC is part, said that the Alfredo da Costa Maternity Human Milk Bank, established in 2009, “has He has already fed about 3,500 premature babies with a total of 4,900 liters of milk, as a result of the cooperation of 550 charitable donors who expressed their willingness to donate the surplus food to their children.
According to ULS in São José, the milk, after analysis and processing, was provided to premature babies admitted to Hospital Maternidad Alfredo da Costa, Hospital Doña Estefanía, Hospital Santa Marta, Hospital Dr. Fernando da Fonseca, and Hospital de Cascais.
This institution indicates that last year, the Human Milk Bank supported 83 donors by donating 578 liters of milk, from which about 180 newborns benefited.
ULS de São José states that partnerships with primary health care, namely with ACES Lisboa Oeste and Oeiras since 2017 and USF Restelo since 2023 (structures now affiliated with ULS de Lisboa Oeste), “allowed the process to be consolidated and decentralized, with donors included in A broader geographic area and closer to the community.”
The hospital unit confirms that the use of human milk improves food tolerance in children, while reducing intestinal complications, systemic infections and mortality, in addition to “recognized health benefits into adulthood, with neurological and cognitive improvement, and the prevention of obesity and diabetes.” Cardiovascular diseases and immunological allergies.
On World Human Milk Donation Day, the Human Milk Bank team thanks “all the donors who have shared their milk over the past 15 years” and calls for new donors who, through “their gestures, ensure the health of other newborns who cannot breastfeed from their mothers.” .
São José ULS also states that the Human Milk Bank implements measures to promote breastfeeding, train professionals, recruit and support donors, receive, analyze and process human milk, as well as its storage and distribution by recipients.
