About this event
Human milk banking and donation are increasingly recognized as vital components of neonatal care, particularly for preterm and vulnerable infants. This webinar brings together two complementary perspectives that address both the systems that make donor milk available and the human experiences that give it meaning.
The first part of the session examines the global landscape of human milk banking, highlighting its proven impact on neonatal outcomes while acknowledging the significant challenges that limit its implementation and expansion. The speaker will explore practical, evidence-based strategies to overcome these barriers, including stronger policy frameworks, improved donor recruitment and education, enhanced logistics and infrastructure, and international collaboration to support sustainable growth.
The second part of the webinar centers the voices of parents, drawing on two decades of international qualitative research with donor and recipient families. Through powerful narratives—from bereaved mothers who donate in memory of a child to families whose infants rely on donor milk in the NICU—the session explores the emotional, ethical, and relational dimensions of milk donation. Together, these perspectives emphasize that advancing human milk banking requires not only effective systems, but also a deep understanding of the parents who make it possible.
Moderator: Prof. Clair-Yves Boquien, PhD, EMBA President, France
AGENDA
Clinical Aspects of Milk Donation: Overcoming Barriers and Shaping Solutions in Neonatal Care, By Prof. Daniel Klotz, (Germany)
Parents at the Heart of Human Milk Donation: Voices of Donors and Recipients, by Prof. Tanya M. Cassidy (Ireland)
This program has been approved for 1.0 Contact Hours; provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #13692
Hosted by
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External speaker
Clair-Yves BoquienE
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External speaker
Prof. Daniel KlotzE
Prof Klotz, MHBA is the Head of the Department of Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine at the Bethel Center of Pediatrics and as a university professor combines the clinical care of premature babies with applied research and teaching. Prof Klotz established milk bank networks in two German federal states, increasing the availability of donor human milk for infants in need. Daniel Klotz is a board member of the German Human Milk Bank Initiative (FMBI) and the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA). His research focuses on nutritional and respiratory medicine in premature babies, with great expertise in researching the utilization and treatment of human milk for premature infants.
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External speaker
Prof. Tanya M CassidyE
Prof. Cassidy is a Senior Researcher affiliated with Maynooth University, Ireland, whose work centres parental experiences of neonatal care and human milk donation. She leads the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance (INHA) research stream of the EU4Health-funded IMAGINE HMB project, and has conducted international qualitative research with donor and recipient parents whose voices feature in her book Banking on Milk, now freely available in open access. She is currently preparing a further book for Routledge on parenting and uncertainty. She serves on the board of the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA) and as Ethics Advisor to the United Kingdom Association for Milk Banking (UKAMB). Her scholarship is informed by lived experience as the mother of two sons born preterm — one of whom died from necrotising enterocolitis in 2005 — and a commitment to ensuring parental perspectives shape neonatal research, policy, and practice.
Medela Webinars
Turning Science into CareWe believe in turning science into care. Offering solutions based on deep insights into research and nature. Listening to real needs. For the benefit of mothers, patients and healthcare professionals.
