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The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on North American milk banks

Cohen, Mathilde ORCID: 0000-0002-8882-1211 and Cassidy, Tanya ORCID: 0000-0002-1143-378X (2021) The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on North American milk banks. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 17 (4). ISSN 1740-8695

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Abstract

This study aims to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on human milk banking services in North America, with a focus on the United States. We triangulated questionnaire data with interviews and text-based website data. Of the 30 human milk bank services from which data were obtained, the majority faced substantial internal organization change in terms of staffing and protocols and experienced financial hardship in particular because of decreases in donor human milk orders. At the same time, most banks reported an increase in their numbers of donors and in the volume of milk collected. These results show that the pandemic significantly affected the way in which many North American milk banks operate, some lactating mothers donate their milk and, at least during the first few months of the crisis, certain hospitals' donor human milk ordering patterns changed. It suggests in particular that stay-at-home orders and the turn to remote work created the potential for a surge in human milk available for donation as a number of parents no longer needed their surplus for their own children. Legal and policy reform should focus on replicating the positive effects of the pandemic on breastfeeding by guaranteeing paid parental leave and flexible work conditions. Initiatives should also aim at counteracting its negative effects by mandating the insurance coverage of donor human milk, supporting milk banks financially and, more generally, integrating lactation and human milk banking services within the health system.

Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:breastfeeding; Covid-19 pandemic; donor human milk; human milk banks; lactation; neonatal health; NICU
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Health
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Nursing, Psychotherapy & Community Health
Publisher:John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Official URL:https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13234
Copyright Information:© 2021 The Authors
ID Code:28099
Deposited On:22 Feb 2023 16:35 by Thomas Murtagh . Last Modified 22 Feb 2023 16:35

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