Whāngai Ora Milk Bank - Te Papaiōea

01/06/2026

This was the milk bank I founded in Cape Town in 2002, and it's grown to the highest level under the leadership of the amazing Jenny Wright of Milk Matters . We don't have 600g babies in Palmerston North (they would be in supported by Christchurch and Wellington milk banks). Every drop of the donors' milk is hugely important to the babies who receive it, and we never have enough donors. 💞

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01/06/2026

Learn more about safe sleeping for your baby, which beds are safe and how to keep your baby warm in their sleep.

23/05/2026

An article on milk banking in Brazil, which has more milk banks than any other country, due to outstanding government and community support.

Originating in Brazil in 2004, the day was created to promote the importance of donating human milk to non-profit human milk banks.

19/05/2026

Happy World Milk Donation Day, 19 May: Aroha that nourishes. Would you like to join our team of precious donors who have loved and nourished over 3000 babies during the past 6 years? Midcentral donors, please (depots in Palmerston North and Levin).

09/05/2026

Happy Mothers Day, donors, recipients and research helpers! This week I collected milk from the amazing Andrea and young Benjamin on the eve of her 3-year anniversary as a milk donor, our longest-going donor ever. Andrea gave her first milk donation on 8 May 2023 and has now given us stunning 297210 mls over 112 deliveries. That's a lot of impact for recipient babies over the years.❤️

07/05/2026

Massey is conducting research to see if our two pasteurising machines are equivalent for preserving food quality and immune factors. Are there lactating mothers in or near Palmerston North able to provide 250 mls of milk of any age (old stock in the freezer, put aside perhaps because you were taking medications)? This one off donation will be done without the usual blood tests and screening, and the research team will thank you with a $30 voucher. If you have a few bags of milk and are willing to donate it for a good cause without the usual work of being an ongoing donor, please send a private message with your email address and/or phone number and we'll get in touch to arrange collection.

10/04/2026

Thinking about the cyclone and how it might impact our donors: If your power goes out, your freezer should be fine for *at least* 24 hours if left unopened. If you are without power a bit longer, but if there are still ice crystals in your milk (ie if it is still slushy), it will be OK to refreeze it. If it's fully defrosted but still cold, contact us at once as we can pasteurise it that day. If you fear that you are likely to have a power cut, contact us within the next 36 hours so that we can make arrangements to store your milk safely (the Birthing Centre has a generator, so we trust that our own freezers will keep working!)

09/04/2026

Movements of milk since Sept 25 (the start of our financial year). Note the stunning peak in donations in November/December, but also the steady drop off to the end of March. Collecting those generous freezer stashes helped so much, but it kicked the can down the road. We are looking for steady monthly donations to add to the aroha of our 6 active March donors - see our website for details on how to donate.

16/11/2025

Oh my word, what a fantastic response to yesterday's appeal for donor milk! I feel overwhelmed and humbled to see how much aroha there is in our area. Similar questions came up time after time, so I'll post a quick summary below. I'm pecking away at the responses on Messenger, and have yet to get to comments and emails, but I will try to answer every single one in the next couple of days. I think we might be good for now - but remember that a stash of milk is a short term solution, so we are very grateful for those who have offered to be an ongoing donor too. 1) Question about age of baby: it doesn't matter, as any human milk is wonderfully health-giving compared to alternatives (and our aim is to help the recipient's mum maximise her own supply, so bubs will soon get age-appropriate milk). We don't usually try to recruit mums of older babies, since they are likely to be weaning soon, but their milk is still wonderful! 2) Meds: we use the list put out by Christchurch milk bank. Usually they are fine for your healthy baby, but might impact on fragile bodies that are barely operating fully yet. 3) Age of stash - up to 1 year if stored in chest freezer, otherwise about 6 - 8 months in usual freezer.

16/11/2025

To all breastfeeding mamas within 50 kms of Palmerston North, this is a HUGE plea for donor milk. Monday 17 November is World Prematurity Day, and the theme this year is "Give preterm babies a strong start for a hopeful future". Whangai Ora Milk Bank is part of the strategy to do this, in providing safe donor human milk for these fragile babies. However this month our freezers are almost empty, and we only have milk for another week. If you have a stash of milk in your freezer that you can spare (even as little as 1 litre at this stage), or if you are willing to become a donor for a few weeks, please send a message, and we will explain how to proceed. Thank you!