It begins with your baby, how it usually works is that you breastfeed your baby exclusively for 6 months and then you continue breastfeeding with complementary foods from 6 months to 24 months and beyond, that is the WHO recommended journey. Once you are done feeding you express the remainder of the breastmilk from both breasts, the more you express the more you produce. This is how many moms buil
d a stash of frozen breastmilk for whatever reason, they may want to step out and leave baby with Gogo, or travel briefly, return to work and therefore the excess breastmilk is expressed and stored so that your baby has breastmilk available from mom exclusively. This leads you to build an oversupply and that is what our wonderful donors donate to the SABR breastmilk banks. Breastfeeding and breastmilk donation happen concurrently, and they support each other, because the more you express the more you produce, and this benefits your baby and at the same time other babies can also benefit from your live-saving donations. Breastmilk is stored for donation in the fridge for 24 hours and in the chest freezer frozen solid for up to 6 months. To donate your existing breastmilk stash or a part of, please contact us before the breastmilk is older than 3 months from the date of expression. To donate sign up here-----> https://www.sabr.org.za/register.html?memberGroupID=2
Why donated breastmilk? Breastmilk is the perfect food for premature babies: it aids in preventing necrotising enterocolitis and strengthens the immune system, while also improving bonding and providing benefits for maternal health. Since premature babies are at risk of developmental delays and poor school performance, the cognitive benefits of breastmilk are especially important, owing to its lasting cognitive and developmental benefits. Both prematurity and malnutrition have devastating effects on the cognitive and physical development of children in their formative years. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa found itself in a precarious situation with regard to food and nutrition, especially for young children. The levels of child stunting in South Africa – an indication of chronic and long-term food insecurity – increased from 21% in 2008 to 27% in 2016. Now, with the devastation of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown in South Africa, child malnutrition rates are expected to increase. Stunting affects children’s health, making them more susceptible to disease and infection, while also impairing their mental and physical development. This means that children who suffer from stunting are less likely to achieve their full physical development and cognitive potential as adults. Even more detrimentally, these children risk succumbing to severe acute malnutrition (SAM), which could cost them their lives. Children who do not grow well and start to lose weight are at higher risk of dying. Children who are severely wasted or stunted are 11.6 and 5.5 times more likely to die, respectively, than children normal weight and height. Stunting also has a marked impact on the country’s economic and developmental potential at large: evidence shows that countries with high stunting rates also display lower GDP growth rates and, in effect, have stunted economies. Where failing maternal health is the leading cause of mothers being unable to breastfeed, a familiar context for the NICU in the tertiary hospital facilities across South Africa. Failed breastfeeding and the consequences thereof are more evident in poor communities. We have supported the healthcare system and the community of breastfeeding mothers in South Africa through programmes involving scientific research, advocacy and awareness. We actively participate in government regulatory programmes and the provision of safe, nutritious, donated breastmilk (DBM). In 2022 SABR supports 85 neonatal intensive care units countrywide with 29 public-sector human-milk banks and one Reserve bank. During the last fiscal year, we recorded a direct impact of 3864 recipients of donated breastmilk. Thank you for your support!
