In Italy premature babies are the 7% of the total, every year. Althought the number of births is decreasing, the number of premature babies is increasing steadly. For many of them (especially those who are hospitalised in Neonatal Intensive Therapy) mom milk is not available. The solution coud be the set up of human milk banks, the so called Blud. Mom milk (giveng by those mothers who have more than enough milk) is harvested, processed and conserved. Then, if necessary, the milk is given to premature babies. This is an issue not valued enough, but according to the WHO in few years every Neonatal Intensive Therapy Centre must own the appropriate instruments to handle human milk for premature children.

Mom Milk Project

In this context the project Mom Milk has been developed. It started in 2011 from the idea of a group of private enterpreneurs. The startup (for profit) proposes a new system to pasteurize human milk, with the High Temperature Short Time (HTST) method. Milk is processed at 72 degrees for 15 seconds and holds all nourishing qualities and the essential components (immunoglobulin, iron, lynphoid cells, lipase). The Padano Tech Park decided to take part in this project, took over the startup and made it a non-profit startup. The decision to launch the Mom Milk Project dates one year. Since then plants have been activated and certified again and contacts were started with the Neonatal Intensive Therapy Unit of the Mangiagalli Hospital in Milan and with the Ponte di Varese Ospital. For the future “it is necessary to reinforce the pasteurization system; update the software for the traceability of the milk, from the harvesting to the giving to babies, also to have the possibility to use it for further studies; giving a srtarter kit (heat bag, baby bottle and icecubes) for mothers who want to give their milk to the hospital”, explains Di Lemma, from the Padano Tech Park.