06/08/2026
Human milk bank in islamic context.
Protecting newborns. Respecting faith.
World Breastfeeding Week 2026 reminds us that protecting breastfeeding also means ensuring that every small vulnerable newborn can safely receive human milk when a mother's own milk is temporarily unavailable.
Islam strongly supports breastfeeding, including wet nursing when a mother cannot breastfeed. Human milk bank services can extend that protection to small vulnerable newborns, provided they are both medically safe and religiously safe. This is particularly important across many Muslim-majority countries and communities, where human milk banking remains limited despite substantial need.
This paper describes two pathways that have been successfully used, depending on local religious guidance:
Human milk bank services and Islamic milk kinship: pathways and processes for ensuring respect for religious law and tradition in the provision of donor human milk for small vulnerable newborns. International Breastfeeding Journal. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13006-025-00704-w
1️⃣ Avoid creating milk kinship through practices such as multiple donors, small amounts of milk from each donor, no direct breastfeeding, donor anonymity, and approaches that do not establish a qualifying breastfeeding relationship.
2️⃣ Recognise and record milk kinship through one or a few known donors, robust registration systems, traceable records, informed families, and measures that prevent future marriages between milk relatives.
The paper also highlights four practical steps for establishing human milk bank services in Islamic contexts:
✔️ Partner with religious leaders from the earliest stages.
✔️ Understand local interpretations of milk kinship.
✔️ Communicate clearly and proactively with communities.
✔️ Design human milk bank processes
that consistently meet religious requirements.
The experience of the KK Human Milk Bank in Singapore demonstrates how
close collaboration between medical and religious authorities can ensure that donor human milk is both medically and religiously safe. The goal is the same: safe access to donor human milk for small vulnerable newborns while fully respecting local religious law and tradition.
Strengthening what works means
ensuring that lifesaving donor human milk is available to every small vulnerable newborn, while respecting the cultural and religious contexts in which families live.
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