This year, we mark an important milestone: 20 years of serving families when they need it most.
What began in founder Naomi Bar-Yam’s living room has grown into a powerful, community-driven network rooted in the belief that every baby deserves the chance to thrive.
Rooted in Lived Experience
Naomi Bar-Yam
Founder and Executive Director (2006–2020)
“It doesn’t get better than saving babies’ lives.”
For founder Naomi Bar-Yam, that belief was deeply personal.
After welcoming two children who required special care at birth, Naomi understood firsthand the uncertainty families face — and the critical role nutrition can play during those earliest days.
Years later, she discovered that Boston, one of the nation’s leading medical hubs, did not have a milk bank. Naomi set out to change that, and soon a small community conversation grew into something much bigger. Read Naomi’s full founder story.
Step by Step. Ounce by Ounce.
Grounded in both lived experience and medical need, Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast was built through the efforts of advocates, healthcare professionals, donors, and community members committed to expanding access to this vital resource.
In our earliest days, we distributed donor milk from a fellow HMBANA-accredited milk bank while building the infrastructure needed to serve families closer to home.
At the time, awareness of donor milk was still growing, and many healthcare providers were unfamiliar with its lifesaving role in neonatal care.
But as research expanded and more clinicians and families experienced its impact, so did the milk bank.
Today, our work includes donor screening, pasteurization, testing, storage, and distribution, all guided by rigorous medical and ethical standards.
A Growing Impact
Today, more than 90% of U.S. hospital NICUs rely on donor milk from accredited milk banks to help care for their smallest patients.
Thanks to the support of our community, we now serve more families and healthcare partners than ever before.
In 2025 alone, we:
- Delivered more than 203,000 bottles of donor milk
- Partnered with a record 1,600+ milk donors
- Supported approximately 22,000 babies
- Expanded subsidized milk support by 65% in just two years
But numbers only tell part of the story.
Behind every bottle is a family navigating uncertainty, a donor choosing to give, and a care team working to ensure the best possible start. This work is deeply human.
Celebrating 20 Years of Impact
Throughout 2026, we’ll continue sharing stories, milestones, and opportunities to celebrate this community and the families it serves.
