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Public Mothers’ Milk Bank

Héma-Québec is responsible for recruiting and vetting donors, as well as processing, testing and distributing milk donations to hospitals. Click any section below to quickly find what you’re looking for:

Since 2014, Héma-Québec has run the only Public Mothers’ Milk Bank in Québec. The purpose of the Bank is to provide pasteurized human milk for premature babies born at or before 32 weeks and who require medical treatment at:

  • Hôpital de Fleurimont (CHUS)
  • Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont
  • McGill University Health Centre (Glen site)
  • Centre mère-enfant at CHUL
  • CHU Sainte-Justine
  • Jewish General Hospital

Mother’s milk donations and donor recruitment

Milk is donated voluntarily by qualified lactating parents who are producing more milk than their baby needs and whose medical and social history show no increased risk of transmitting pathogens.

As a health professional, you can help Héma-Québec fulfill its mission to efficiently meet the needs of the Québec population for quality blood and other biological products of human origin.

As a front-line worker, you can play a key role for the Public Mothers’ Milk Bank by encouraging parents with extra breast milk to donate it. Héma-Québec’s tools will help you better understand how to recruit donors.

Material available

For the parent

  • Tracking package

Promotional tools

  • 11 x 17 breast milk donation poster
  • 8½ x 11 poster (for plexiglass counter display)
  • Breast milk donation leaflet
  • Scannable registration card (QR code) linking directly to the online form (business card format)

You can order materials by filling out the Public Mothers’ Milk Bank order form and submitting it via :

Using mother’s milk products

Héma-Québec is committed to providing the highest quality products through its rigorous donor selection criteria, lab testing and milk pasteurization process.

  • Donors are screened for syphilis, hepatitis B (HbsAg and anti-HBc), hepatitis C (anti-HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (anti-HIV 1/2) and human T-cell lymphocytic virus I and II (anti-HTLV I/II). Nucleic acid testing (NAT) is also performed for hepatitis B and C and human immunodeficiency virus (HBV/HCV/HIV-1).
  • Milk undergoes sterility testing after pasteurization and prior to freezing to ensure it is free from microbial contamination.

Read this informational circular to learn more.

If a qualified health professional decides to use mother’s milk products, they can place an order with the Public Mothers’ Milk Bank. The final product will be distributed in sterile phthalate- and BPA-free polypropylene bottles.

Place an order

To place an order, call our Customer Service (Hospitals) department or fill out the mother’s milk order form (in French only) and fax it over.

Customer Service (Hospitals)

Open 24/7

  • Telephone: 1-888-666-4362, ext. 6909
  • Fax: 514-904-2522 or 1-866-811-9465

Deliveries are made only on weekdays. If needed, you can contact our staff at any time.

 


Contact us

Questions about the Public Mothers’ Milk Bank? Reach out!

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