Human Milk Donation

Donor human milk is crucial for vulnerable infants when their mother’s milk is insufficient, to avoid life threatening complications. Globally, approximately 500’000 very preterm infants lack access to donor human milk annually, which is a public health priority. However, the research is limited on donors’ characteristics, their experience with milk donation and their motivations to donate and how it influences the sustainability of human milk donation. This understudied area has never been explored in Switzerland. The mixed method research aims to investigate Swiss donors’ characteristics and donation volume through a quantitative cross-sectional survey, followed by 10-12 qualitative semi-structured interviews with donors to explore their experience and motivations to donate and maintain donation over time. Ethical approval will be sought from the CER-VD. Recruitment will happen through the Swiss milk banks. Quantitative, qualitative, and integrated analyses will inform optimal milk bank guidelines, evidence-based strategies for sustainable milk collection and improve care for donors and indirectly vulnerable infants. The study will last 18 months, and the results are expected in summer 2026.