REVIEW published: 04 March 2019 doi: 10.3389/fped.2019.00053 Frontiers in Pediatrics | www.frontiersin.org 1 March 2019 | Volume 7 | Article 53 Edited by: Christoph Bührer, Charité Medical University of Berlin, Germany Reviewed by: Fernando Cabañas, Hospital Universitario Quirónsalud Madrid, Spain María Gormaz, Agencia Valenciana de Salud, Spain *Correspondence: Gillian Weaver gillian.weaver@yahoo.com Specialty section: This article was submitted to Neonatology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics Received: 31 August 2018 Accepted: 08 February 2019 Published: 04 March 2019 Citation: Weaver G, Bertino E, Gebauer C, Grovslien A, Mileusnic-Milenovic R, Arslanoglu S, Barnett D, Boquien C-Y, Buffin R, Gaya A, Moro GE, Wesolowska A and Picaud J-C (2019) Recommendations for the Establishment and Operation of Human Milk Banks in Europe: A Consensus Statement From the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA). Front. Pediatr. 7:53. doi: 10.3389/fped.2019.00053 Recommendations for the Establishment and Operation of Human Milk Banks in Europe: A Consensus Statement From the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA) Gillian Weaver 1 *, Enrico Bertino 2 , Corinna Gebauer 3 , Anne Grovslien 4 , Radmila Mileusnic-Milenovic 5 , Sertac Arslanoglu 6 , Debbie Barnett 7 , Clair-Yves Boquien 8 , Rachel Buffin 9 , Antoni Gaya 10 , Guido E. Moro 11 , Aleksandra Wesolowska 12,13 and Jean-Charles Picaud 9,14 1 Human Milk Foundation, Harpenden, United Kingdom, 2 Neonatal Unit of Turin University, City of Health and Science of Turin, Turin, Italy, 3 Abteilung Neonatologie Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder und Jugendliche, Leipzig, Germany, 4 Neonatal Unit, Milk Bank, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, 5 First Serbian Milk Bank, Institute of Neonatology, Belgrade, Serbia, 6 Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey, 7 Greater Glasgow and Clyde Donor Milk Bank, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 8 PhAN, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Université de Nantes, CRNH-Ouest, Nantes, France, 9 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Hopital de la Croix-Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France, 10 Banc de Teixit, F. Banc de Sang i Teixits de les Illes Balears, Institut d’Investigacio Sanitaria Illes Balears (IdISBa), Barcelona, Spain, 11 Italian Association of Human Milk Banks (AIBLUD), Milan, Italy, 12 Department of Neonatology, Faculty of Health Science, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, 13 Laboratory of Human Milk and Lactation Research, Holy Family Hospital Regional Human Milk Bank, Warsaw, Poland, 14 CarMeN Unit, INSERM U1060, INRA U1397, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Pierre Bénite, France Objectives: To develop recommendations from the European Milk Bank Association (EMBA) for the establishment and operation of human milk banks (HMB) in Europe. Method: A working group comprising members of the EMBA was convened in 2015 to develop Europe-wide recommendations for milk banks. Each member had experience of guideline development and/or milk banking operations. An initial survey was agreed using collated published global recommendations. A total of 108 potential recommendations were included in the survey; responders noted which were included in their national guidelines. The responses were collated, compared, and discussed and the group determined where there was consensus and where substantial or minor differences were identified. Where there was consensus or robust published evidence on which to base recommendations these were included. When there was no consensus and no clear evidence base, a statement of explanation based on collective expert opinion was agreed. Results: Published, internationally available guidelines with recommendations for human milk banks from France, Italy, and the UK, together with guidelines from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland were included as source materials. These covered: General recommendations; Donor recruitment and screening; Expression, handling, and storage of donor human milk (DHM); Pooling of DHM; Milk screening; Milk treatment (pasteurization); Delivery of DHM to recipients.