§ Baroness Goudieasked Her Majesty's Government:
Given the advantages of breast milk for premature babies, what plans they have to increase the number and distribution of milk banks throughout the United Kingdom. [HL388]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)The provision of milk banks is a matter for local decision.
Donated milk can help pre-term and sick babies. However there remain concerns about the transmission of infectious agents from human milk. Although mothers and their donated milk are screened before use, there remains a theoretical risk. It is for these reasons that mothers and fathers should make their own decisions about whether they want their baby to receive donated human milk.
The Government are fully committed to the promotion of breastfeeding, which is uniformly accepted as the best form of nutrition for infants We firmly believe that it is important that women and their partners are able to make a fully informed choice on how to feed their babies based on accurate and consistent information. This means that women should have access to information about all infant feeding practices through the relevant health care professional.