ArticleArchives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition2025
Cost of operating a human milk bank in the UK: a microcosting analysis.
Article in Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Policies and guidelines supporting the sustainability of human milk donation to milk banks in Switzerland: a document analysis.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- Analysis of the economic benefits and feasibility of the same-city delivery model for donor human milk (SCDM-DHM).International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- Bridging the Milk Gap: Integrating a Human Milk Bank-Blood Bank Model to Reinforce Lactation Support and Neonatal Care.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Understanding modifiable barriers to human milk donation in the United Kingdom.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
ObjectiveGlobally, demand for donor human milk (DHM) is increasing with WHO guidelines recommending DHM as the first line nutrition for premature infants in the absence or shortfall of maternal milk. Policymakers and clinicians currently have limited knowledge regarding costs incurred by human milk banks (HMBs) making the planning and resourcing of these services challenging. This study aimed to evaluate costs in a national network of HMBs in the UK. DESIGN AND
settingAll 14 UK HMBS were invited to complete a bottom-up microcosting survey from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 covering four key areas: Staffing, equipment, donor screening and incidental costs. Total annual salary costs included on-costs (ie, national insurance, pensions), qualifications, overheads (ie, non-staff costs) and capital overheads. The annual equivalent costs for each equipment item were based on the total cost over its useful life and discounted at 3.5%.
results10 out of 14 milk banks provided responses with more complete datasets returned by larger milk banks. Staffing costs ranged from £24 983 to £476 194 (n=9, mean: £159 798) and considerable expertise was provided voluntarily or from non-costed staffing. Other costs included equipment (n=7, range: £2600-£51 453, mean: £19 279), donor screening (n=6, range: £925-£38 057, mean: £18 570), incidentals (n=6, range: £650-£109 996, mean: £23 774). The total annual cost of operating a milk bank annually was £202 719 (range, £27 583-£675 699) to provide between 205 and 3495 litres of DHM. The cost per litre averaged £173.49 (range, £95.94-£274.88).
conclusionsThe average cost of DHM is currently higher than current cost recovery tariffs and this study likely under-represents total costs. This study provides useful benchmarking data for future economic analyses, trial development and service planning.
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