Table 1 Summary of clinical and milk banking recommendations regarding breastfeeding, breast milk, and donor human milk banking by various international and national organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic
From: Role of human milk banks amid COVID 19: perspective from a milk bank in India
| Guidelines | Date published | Recommendations about breastfeeding/breast milk/ donor milk | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| International guidelines | |||
| UNICEF | – | Breastfeeding with necessary precautions; expressed breast milk if mother is too ill | [5] |
| World Health Organization | 13 March 2020 | Breastfeeding with necessary precautions | [4] |
| National guidelines | |||
| China | 3 February 2020 | Isolate the mother and provide expressed breast milk | [6] |
| Switzerland | 3 March 2020 | Isolation of mother and no direct breastfeeding during 14 days of isolation | [7] |
| Italy | 3 April 2020 | Direct breastfeeding for asymptomatic and pauci-symptomatic mothers, expressed breast milk if mother is too sick. | [8] |
| Australia | 29 March 2020 | Breastfeeding with necessary precautions | [9] |
| India | 1 April 2020 | Breastfeeding with necessary precautions; expressed breast milk if isolation of mother is possible | [10] |
| United States of America | 4 April 2020 | Breastfeeding with necessary precautions, expressed breast milk | [11, 12] |
| 2 April 2020 | Isolate the mother and provide expressed breast milk | [13] | |
| Canada | 11 April 2020 | Breastfeeding with necessary precautions | [14] |
| Milk banking guidelines | |||
| EMBA | 25 February 2020 | Rigorous donor screening. Safe to use breast milk. Donation suspended for symptomatic mothers | [15] |
| HMBANA | 4 April 2020 | Rigorous donor screening. Safe to use breast milk. Heat inactivation of virus and pasteurization efficacy | [16] |