Your donation could help save a tiny baby's life

We rely upon the generosity and goodwill of our supporters to be able to continue providing this life-changing service to families. Every pound donated really does make a difference, please help if you can.

A GIFT OF £10

Pays for one milk donor onboarding pack

A GIFT OF £20

Feeds a premature baby with donor milk for a day

A GIFT OF £50

Helps our volunteers deliver donor milk for a week

A GIFT OF £100

Recruits one new milk donor, whose milk would feed on average 20 babies

Help more babies receive life-saving donor milk

Amelia was born 3 months prematurely and received donor milk in neonatal intensive care. Watch the video to hear her parents Kay and Ross tell her amazing story.

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How far have we come on our mission?

Every day our growing team is racing to help more hospitals, more families and more projects that spread knowledge about human milk. Get in touch if you can help!

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Hospitals we work with

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Babies supported with donor milk

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Milk donors recruited

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Litres of donor milk provided

Koan's Story

Koan was born with a rare genetic condition and received donor milk from the HMF. Watch Koan’s parents - Shurron and Kel tell their amazing story.

WATCH VIDEO OF KOAN'S STORY

The incredible difference you're making

Recent News

The Human Milk Foundation celebrates its 5th birthday

In our first five years the Human Milk Foundation has pasteurised over 17,000 litres of donor milk, supplying over 50 NHS hospital neonatal units and helping save thousands of tiny lives. Behind every drop of donor milk is a story, and many acts of kindness. From the amazing individuals who take the time and care to express and donate their milk, the dedicated Blood Bikers who are out on the roads every day ensuring the milk gets to the babies who need it, our wonderful volunteers who help support these collections and run our network of hubs, our charity partners and collaborators, to every single person who has contributed and raised vital funds to support our growth. We simply couldn’t run this life-saving service without you all – and together we are making a difference to families one by one.

So, we wanted your words to tell the story of our 5 years. We’ve been overwhelmed with the incredible response, the lovely messages, videos, and photos that you’ve shared with us and we really are so very grateful to each and every one of you for your support, without which we would not have reached this milestone. Take a look at our 5 year impact video and celebration messages on our special page.

Buy an HMF gift to support our work

We were so excited to launch our brand new HMF gift store on World Day of Human Milk Donation – www.hmfgifts.com

Our online shop includes beautiful mugs, canvas tote bags, eco-phone covers and other practical items featuring designs based on human milk science, supporting parents, and the snowdrop flower – our charity emblem. All of our products are made exclusively in the UK and printed on demand using sustainable Epson dye-sublimation printing technology. Proceeds from products purchased in the store help us to support more babies with donor milk.

Watch this space for more products and designs coming soon!

The Hearts Milk Bank / Human Milk Foundation HQ is moving to new premises within Hertfordshire

The Hearts Milk Bank and Human Milk Foundation main HQ is relocating to new premises within Hertfordshire. Having grown our service over the last 5 years to supply over 50 hospitals and support over 400 families at home, we are excited to be moving to an NHS healthcare centre with the potential to expand and develop our service over time.

From 1st February we will no longer be at Rothamsted Institute, Harpenden. All donor milk will be pasteurised at our new HQ in Berkhamsted and our donor milk hubs in Norfolk, Kent, Sussex, Northumbria and South Wales will remain operational as usual.

We will endeavour to keep any disruption to an absolute minimum, but our response times may be longer than usual between 25th January – 1st February. Please bear with us during this busy time, we thank you in advance for your patience.

Research & Science

Unknown facts about human milk

Human milk is a remarkable fluid, changing by the minute, hour, day and season to respond to the needs of the developing baby. Milk adapts to protect babies from infections in their environment, supplies stem cells and immune cells from the mother, and patterns the development of every organ in the body. Yet human milk is full of unknowns.

Our commitment to scientific discovery not only aims to help families understand the magic of milk, but make sure that milk banking processes are continually innovating and improving.