Hundreds of babies to benefit from Northland's first milk bank

RNZ News

25-07-2025

The bank's first donor, Whangārei mum Ashlee Robinson, with Whangārei Rotary Club South past president Jenni Moore, who led the fundraising campaign for the almost $33,000 pasteuriser.
Photo:
RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Northland's first human milk bank is expected to benefit hundreds of premature and unwell babies every year.
Whangārei mum Ashlee Robinson was the first person to donate milk when the new service opened at the city's Te Kotuku maternity unit on Friday afternoon.
She said her own baby spent a month in the hospital's neo-natal unit, so she knew how much the milk bank was needed.
"I saw my milk sitting there in excess, and all these other babies that could be benefiting from it but at the time couldn't - and now they can," she said.
"It makes me quite emotional because I would have accepted milk when my baby was in there and needed it... those babies are quite vulnerable, and I'd do anything to help them."
The bank's first donor, Whangārei mum Ashlee Robinson, watches as her milk is stored in the milk bank freezer until needed.
Photo:
RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Northland director of midwifery Sue Bree likened breast milk to "liquid gold".
"It is love turned into food. Of course, there are many, many nutritional benefits as well. Premature babies have specific needs in terms of immunity and the antibodies that are in breast milk," she said.
Bree said women who wished to donate milk would be able to drop it off at a collection point in central Whangārei. It would then be pasteurised and frozen until needed.
Bree compared the milk bank project to a pregnancy, albeit one with a more than two-year gestation period.
It had been made possible by "incredible generosity" from the community, which had raised the almost $33,000 needed to buy the pasteuriser.
"It's a pragmatic manifestation of the saying, 'It takes a village to raise a child'," Bree said.
A premature baby in Whangārei Hospital's Te Kotuku neonatal unit.
Photo:
RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Bree said Northland had high rates of breastfeeding but donated milk was needed for sick and pre-term babies.
"Sometimes they don't have access to breast milk, either because it's early days and the mother is unable to produce it, or there are other, long-term issues. So, we recognised this was going to be a really beneficial thing for our sick and vulnerable pēpi (babies)."
Small, premature babies would be prioritised, but donated milk could also be given to babies in the maternity ward with low blood sugar levels.
In the past, premature babies had mainly been given formula, made from cow's milk, which was essential but not ideal.
She expected hundreds of babies a year would benefit.
Midwife Louise Rowden said a mother's breast milk was the perfect food.
"But if the mother can't get her own breast milk, then the next best thing is another mother's breast milk," she said.
Lactation consultant Janine Parsons said breast milk also brought long-term health benefits, including reduced rates of diabetes, cardio-vascular problems, obesity and allergies in later life.
She said pasteurisation eliminated bacteria and viruses but preserved "the vast majority" of antibodies and vitamins.
Donors would also complete a health questionnaire and a blood test, to check for diseases that could be transmitted through breast milk.
The milk would be tested after pasteurisation to ensure it was safe.
Public fundraising for the pasteuriser was led by Whangārei Rotary Club South, with contributions from Hāpai Te Hauora, Whangārei Lions, Whangārei City Rotary, Northland Community Foundation.
Much of the money came from an auction of artworks bequeathed by the late Kerikeri artist Valerie Hunton, who had a lifelong commitment to women's health across the Pacific.
Whangārei mum Ashlee Robinson, the first donor, cuts the ribbon to open Northland's first human milk bank.
Photo:
RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Whangārei's new milk bank was used within an hour of opening for a pre-term baby who had spent a week in the neonatal unit.
Mum Emma, from Whangārei, said she wanted to give her baby breast milk from the beginning, but had to use formula instead.
She said it was "really exciting" to be the first person in Northland to use the service.
"It's so good to have this option now. And baby's great. We've just got the go-ahead to go home," she said.
He Piropiro Waiū Human Milk Bank is the fifth public milk bank in the motu, after Christchurch, Wellington, Nelson and Blenheim.
There are also private milk banks in Christchurch and Palmerston North.
Health New Zealand is working on a system to transport donated breast milk to other parts of Northland.