Role of human milk banks amid COVID 19: perspective from a milk bank in India

Table 1 Summary of clinical and milk banking recommendations regarding breastfeeding, breast milk, and donor human milk banking by various international and national organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Guidelines	Date published	Recommendations about breastfeeding/breast milk/ donor milk	Reference number
International guidelines
UNICEF	–	Breastfeeding with necessary precautions; expressed breast milk if mother is too ill	[5]
World Health Organization	13 March 2020	Breastfeeding with necessary precautions	[4]
National guidelines
China	3 February 2020	Isolate the mother and provide expressed breast milk	[6]
Switzerland	3 March 2020	Isolation of mother and no direct breastfeeding during 14 days of isolation	[7]
Italy	3 April 2020	Direct breastfeeding for asymptomatic and pauci-symptomatic mothers, expressed breast milk if mother is too sick.	[8]
Australia	29 March 2020	Breastfeeding with necessary precautions	[9]
India	1 April 2020	Breastfeeding with necessary precautions; expressed breast milk if isolation of mother is possible	[10]
United States of America	4 April 2020	Breastfeeding with necessary precautions, expressed breast milk	[11, 12]
United States of America	2 April 2020	Isolate the mother and provide expressed breast milk	[13]
Canada	11 April 2020	Breastfeeding with necessary precautions	[14]
Milk banking guidelines
EMBA	25 February 2020	Rigorous donor screening. Safe to use breast milk. Donation suspended for symptomatic mothers	[15]
HMBANA	4 April 2020	Rigorous donor screening. Safe to use breast milk. Heat inactivation of virus and pasteurization efficacy	[16]

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