Feeding babies whose mothers were kidnapped or murdered

MDA’s Blood Services Center runs a breast milk bank, headed by Dr. Sharron Bransburg-Zabary. This service is designed to provide breast milk to premature babies. Typically, about 150 liters of breast milk are supplied per month to NICUs in hospitals throughout Israel. The volunteer donors undergo medical examinations and fill out questionnaires, similar to blood donations. “It is important for us to make sure that the donors are healthy and that the milk is healthy and safe for premature babies, and no less importantly – to make sure that their babies are not harmed by their donation.”

MDA collects the donations from the volunteers and brings them to the Milk Bank. There the milk is processed in the laboratory – tested, transferred to bottles and pasteurized – and only then sent to NICUs.

“On October 7, we received heartbreaking requests from hospitals,” recalls Prof. Shinar. “There were babies whose mothers had been killed or taken hostage and there was no one to breastfeed them.” In one of the kibbutzim in the Gaza Envelope, a pregnant woman was about to give birth and one of the MDA paramedics went to her home under fire. Eventually, she was evacuated to the hospital and gave birth in the delivery room, but she was unable to produce milk, apparently due to the stress her body was undergoing. “We’ve been providing her with milk for more than two months and her baby is growing and thriving. In addition, we received two calls from female IDF officers, one of them a combat pilot, who were taking part in the war effort and needed breast milk for their babies. They were fighting to defend Israel, and the people of Israel were protecting their children – mothers donated breast milk and MDA supplied it to the officers’ babies. These days, MDA’s Milk Bank provides breast milk to more than 20 such war babies.”