Who can donate mother's milk?
To register to the Mother’s Milk Bank, you must meet certain criteria. Are you the profile we're looking for?
Be in good health
See the list of accepted medications and the list of natural products that are not permitted.
Respect the age criteria in force for babies
The age requirement for the baby at the time of registration may vary depending on the needs of neonatal centres. At this time, we welcome mothers whose baby is under 6 months old. This age limit ensures that each mother has enough time to complete the qualification process and contribute to the public milk bank until her child reaches 12 months of age — the maximum period during which donations can be accepted and used to support the most vulnerable babies.
Be nursing and have an overproduction of milk
Be a non-smoker
Live in a municipality near a drop-off point
To make it easier to pick up or drop off your donations, you must live in a municipality in the Montréal Metropolitan Community, the Québec Metropolitan Community or reside within a one-hour drive from a drop-off point.
Certain criteria may also influence your eligibility to donate mother's milk. Please consult them before going any further in the registration process.
Would you like to register to the Mothers’ Milk Bank?
Want to help in some other way?
A bank serving a tightly knit community of mothers
Each year in Québec, some 1,000 premature babies whose mothers cannot breastfeed benefit from the generosity of mothers who share their surplus milk by donating it to Héma-Québec’s Public Mothers’ Milk Bank.
The milk donated by these mothers is tested, processed and pasteurized, then sent to hospitals where it is used to treat babies born before 32 weeks’ gestation.