Saskatchewan Milk Bank

Go to any major city in Canada and you’ll find a milk bank, all not-for-profits, with a very simple mission: to provide women and children with the help and support they need. Unlike men, women have the unique capacity to give birth. In Canada, an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 babies are born pre-term per year, but those numbers are not contained to just one country. Premature pregnancies are a global issue, affecting almost 15 million babies globally and premature birth is the leading cause of infant mortality worldwide. Pre-term births in Canada have also increased by 20% in the past 2 decades. Though not all mother’s who deliver prematurely struggle to produce enough milk for their newborns, many unfortunately do. And while other options exist, such as organic and homemade formulas or goat and coconut milk, breast milk is still considered to be one of the best sources of nutrition for a newborn, as it can protect many pre-term babies from serious life-threatening illnesses and infections.

So, what is a parent to do if they lack access to an adequate source of natural breast milk? The answer is donated breast milk. But where, exactly, can parents find donated breast milk? Milk banks.

Unfortunately, their numbers are low, contained to only four Canadian cities – Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal – while the need for their services continues to grow…

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