The invasion of southern Israel by Hamas led to the massacre of more than 1,200 Israeli civilians \u2013 including women and children \u2013the kidnapping of more than 250 hostages into the Gaza Strip, and threats to thousands of families. At the very onset of the Hamas massacre, the optimal continuation of breastfeeding was challenged by many cases of maternal death or disability, or by emergency deployment for active duty of lactating mothers playing critical roles in the army or the air force.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit National Human Milk Bank of Magen David Adom is located in Ramle\u2019s MDA Blood Bank. Its professionals were asked to supply breast milk from over 400 women donors to 46 healthy babies whose mothers were not with them.<\/p>\n
Some 200 new donors join post-October 7<\/p>\n
In addition to the veteran donors, around 200 new donors joined, according to Prof. Francis Mimouni, a veteran pediatrician at Jerusalem\u2019s Shaare Zedek Medical Center and, for the last 15 years, chairman of the national council, who worked with Dr. Sharron Bransburg-Zabary, director of MDA\u2019s human milk bank.<\/p>\n
MDA\u2019s National Human Milk Bank (credit: Courtesy Magen David Adom)<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the war, we have tripled its activity, and in addition to providing the routine milk, there was an emergent need for safe mother\u2019s milk to nourish babies who have been orphaned, whose mothers have been abducted or injured, or for babies whose mothers were recruited to the IDF, said Bransburg-Zabary, a certified lactation consultant who helped found, and who leads, the facility to provide safe, screened donor breast milk to premature, sick, and vulnerable infants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked around the clock and recruited many new donors to collect about a liter per day for each baby and to continue providing the infants and the premature babies with the safest milk that stands up to the highest supervision levels and passes all the tests and procedures needed for their health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bransburg-Zabary explained that when infants or premature babies are fed exclusively with breast milk, a unique environment of microorganisms, such as beneficial bacteria, is created in their tissues. This environment is part of their immune protection and helps prevent allergies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the biological mother is unable to nourish her infant with her own milk, supervised portions of breast milk from the Human Milk Bank are the recommended feeding option endorsed by health authorities worldwide and by the Health Ministry. Breast milk is defined as a \u2018lifesaving treatment\u2019 for infants in need.\u201d<\/p>\n
The journal Military Medicine quickly accepted and published the unique study titled \u201cHuman milk bank in a war zone: A report of the 2023-2025 war in the Middle East\u201d by Mimouni, Bransburg-Zabary, Dr. Deena Rachel Zimmerman, Prof. Eilat Shinar (who runs the blood bank<\/a>), and others.<\/p>\n Healthy babies needed donated breast milk\u00a0<\/p>\n Mimouni told The Jerusalem Post in an interview that \u201cwe realized on Oct. 8 that there were babies who needed mother\u2019s milk, even though these were not the usual ones that qualified. It was provided in normal times to premature, low-birth-weight babies to prevent infections like necrotizing enterocolitis.<\/p>\n \u201cOur aim was not to save lives; the babies were all healthy, and at last resort, they could have been given infant formula. But it takes time for many infants to get used to formula after being nursed by their mothers. Some refused. They obviously had to drink from a baby bottle, which involves a very different technique of sucking with the tongue and mouth; but also having to get used to formula makes it harder.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome families to whom we offered the donated milk asked how they could be sure it was sterile and suited to the baby,\u201d Mimouni recalled. \u201cWe knew there would be anxieties, but weeks later, we did surveys of families who were involved in this unique experience. Many potential donors came forward after we published requests to apply.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project\u2019s success was caused by motivation; what caused success was motivation; giving of your own milk, giving part of yourself while nursing your own baby is the height of unconditional love.\u201d<\/p>\n In normal times, donors who had been given sterile bags brought their milk to a specific place, but with missiles falling and danger in the streets, MDA motorcycles took the bags every day and brought them to the Ramle milk bank.<\/p>\n