The MDA Blood Service operates the National Human Milk Bank, managed by Dr. Sharon Bransburg-Tzabari, which provides breastmilk for premature babies. Approximately 150 liters of milk are regularly provided to the various neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in hospitals nationwide each month.

Milk donors undergo various checks and fill out questionnaires, similar to blood donors. “We need to be sure that the donors and the milk are healthy and safe for the babies, and just as importantly – to be certain that the donors’ own babies aren’t affected by the mothers’ donations.”

MDA collects the milk from the donor mothers and brings them to the Milk Bank. There, the milk is treated in a laboratory: it’s checked, transferred to bottles, pasteurized and only then can it be transferred to the hospital wards.

Waves of requests flooded in

“On October 7, we received heartbreaking requests from the hospitals,” recalled Professor Eilat Shinar, MDA Deputy Director General and Director of the Blood Services.

“Babies whose mothers were murdered or kidnapped didn’t have anyone to feed them. On one of the kibbutzim in the Gaza Envelope, a pregnant woman went into labor, and one of the MDA paramedics went to her home while under fire. Eventually, she was evacuated to the hospital. She was able to give birth in the delivery room, but she wasn’t able to produce breastmilk, most likely because of the stress that she underwent.

Graded and labelled plastic bottles filled with mothers milk to different levels. The bottles lie in a freezer at a human milk bank, where human milk is collected, screened, treated and dispensed. This milk is frozen to be stored for many months until it is needed. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Graded and labelled plastic bottles filled with mothers milk to different levels. The bottles lie in a freezer at a human milk bank, where human milk is collected, screened, treated and dispensed. This milk is frozen to be stored for many months until it is needed. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
"We’ve been providing her milk for several months, and her baby is thriving. We also received requests from two female IDF officers – one of whom is a combat navigator in the Air Force – who were called up to join the war effort and needed milk for their babies.

"On the one hand, they’re fighting to protect the State of Israel, and on the other hand, the people of Israel are protecting their babies – including the mothers who donate the milk and Magen David Adom’s Milk Bank, which supplies it."