Hansard

Good afternoon, convener and committee members.My petition relates to the unequal access to donor milk for babies across Scotland. Understanding of the value of donor breast milk in neonatal units has been growing in recent years. Everyone has heard of blood banks, but not everyone will have heard of milk banks, and parents who find themselves in neonatal units—usually in emergencies—will not know to ask for donor milk or even know whether it is available.I completely understand why units that cannot provide such milk do not offer it as an option, because it is not helpful to discuss something that cannot be provided. However, the situation has changed in recent years, with more and more research confirming that babies thrive on donor breast milk and much more evidence about the risks of formula, particularly to vulnerable pre-term babies in respect of necrotising enterocolitis and allergies. We also know more about the lifelong benefits of breast milk to cardiovascular health, bone growth and neurological development. Moreover, a recent phenomenon—even outwith neonatal circles—that has been facilitated by social media is informal mother-to-mother milk sharing.As a result, parents who find themselves in neonatal units will perhaps be much more informed and they will ask about the availability of donor milk for their baby. The World Health Organization has made it clear that formula is the fourth best option for feeding babies, pre-term or otherwise. Obviously, direct breastfeeding from the mother is the best option, second is the feeding of expressed breast milk either by tube or cup, and third is donor milk.There is evidence that clinicians and parents in Scotland are happy for donor milk to be used in neonatal units. In the period 2008 to 2011, the Yorkhill milk bank, which is the one milk bank in Scotland, increased by four times the amount of pasteurised milk that it processes. It is providing donated milk for three times more babies than it did in 2008 and it has twice as many donors as it had before. Interestingly, 40 per cent of donors come from outwith the greater Glasgow and Clyde area, and the health boards in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran and Lothian have utilised the service at Yorkhill.Recently, the Scottish Emergency Rider Volunteer Service has been involved in delivering milk to other neonatal units. However, as I pointed out, the only milk bank in Scotland is at Yorkhill and it is funded and run by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as a local service. Over the next few months, parents who find themselves in a neonatal unit will be receiving a DVD called “Small Wonders”, which includes a section on donor milk, and they will start to ask whether such milk is appropriate for their child.Donor milk is also important because it supports maternal lactation. International evidence is emerging that suggests that breastfeeding rates are better in maternity units that use donor milk. It is easy to see why that might be the case; it shows that healthcare professionals value breast milk so much that they are willing to use screened and pasteurised product from other mothers. If those women are pumping milk for a mother’s child, it encourages them to keep going. This is only a temporary stopgap or an emergency option. Women do not simply sit back and get brought bottles of frozen milk; the understanding is that their own milk production has to be kept up to allow them to take over in due course.My son was born at 32 weeks and, having spent three weeks in a neonatal unit, I can genuinely say that expressing exclusively is one of the most relentless and exhausting tasks that I have ever undertaken. Some women have to do it for three months or even more, depending on the gestation of their baby or the medical conditions that it has.I argue, therefore, that we need to consider the establishment of a national donor breast milk bank. Because NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde meets all the costs of running the Yorkhill milk bank, if there is a 27-week-old baby in Aberdeen and another in Glasgow that have identical clinical needs, the baby in Glasgow will get priority. I do not find that an acceptable position for the national health service in Scotland.As demand increases—as it has done so far and will surely continue to do—the question is whether the Glasgow milk bank will be able to cope without extra funding and improved infrastructure. There have been points in the past few months at which milk supplies have been quite tight because so much milk is going out.I propose that, instead, there should be a central milk bank based at Yorkhill that can source locally screened donors as well, and a transport network such as the Scottish Emergency Rider Volunteer Service should co-ordinate supply and demand throughout Scotland. That would make the milk bank service much more equitable, efficient and well supported. Yorkhill would need investment and infrastructure to facilitate that expansion.Another option would be to set up separate milk banks. However, that would be quite expensive and it is not the most efficient option.Yorkhill has the required expertise and facilities, so it would be a good foundation from which to reach all the main neonatal units in Scotland. To base a central milk bank there is a feasible way in which to expand the milk bank service.As a parent living in Scotland, if I had another baby who was in a neonatal unit that was not in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s area, my baby would not be considered for this resource in the way that a baby born in Glasgow would be. I do not find that acceptable.