Newton, MA (8/1/16). Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast (MMBNE) is delighted to congratulate our founding director, Naomi Bar-Yam, Ph.D., on her becoming president of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA).
“I can’t think of a better way to start World Breastfeeding Week. This year’s theme of sustainability reflects our shared goals both at MMBNE and HMBANA. Donor milk saves babies’ lives and supports mothers’ ability to breastfeed, sparing unnecessary burden on families, hospitals and public health systems at large,” Bar-Yam said.
Pauline Sakamoto, immediate past HMBANA president recently stated several priority issues at hand for milk banking, including promoting equity in access to donor milk through medical and community education and insurance legislation.
“As president, I look forward to continuing our efforts at advancing our message and advocating for donor milk for all in need,” Bar-Yam emphasized.
MMBNE supports the goals of helping more babies in need, mainstreaming donor milk in hospitals throughout the Northeast and North America, and increasing outreach. To this end, the organization expects to launch a new website in early fall and will continue working closely with HMBANA and sister milk banks in improving communications and advocating for donor milk equity.
The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) is a professional association for supporters of non-profit donor human milk banking. HMBANA promotes the health of babies and mothers through the provision of safe pasteurized donor milk and support of breastfeeding. HMBANA values clinical excellence, ethical practice, community education, and research for the purpose of ensuring that all individuals with a medical need for it have access to pasteurized donor human milk.
Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast is a non-profit community milk bank operating under the guidelines of HMBANA. Our goal is ethical, equitable distribution of donated, pasteurized human milk to babies in fragile health throughout the Northeastern United States.
