The Italian Association of Donor Human Milk Banks is the leading national body dedicated to promoting, coordinating, and developing donor human milk banks in Italy.
Founded with scientific, clinical, and social aims, AIBLUD plays a key role in ensuring access to donor human milk for the most fragile newborns, widely considered the best alternative when a mother's own milk is not available.
The association was established in 2005, during a period when the Italian milk bank network was undergoing strong growth and consolidation. Its creation followed major national initiatives, including surveys of existing milk banks and the publication of the first Italian guidelines for their organization. AIBLUD developed in line with the principles of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, with the aim of promoting increasingly effective perinatal care centered on newborn needs.
AIBLUD's institutional mission includes promoting breastfeeding, spreading a culture of milk donation, and supporting the use of donor human milk in neonatology wards and especially in neonatal intensive care units. The association coordinates milk banks across the country, encourages the creation of new services where they are still lacking, and promotes the continuous improvement of quality and safety in operational procedures. It also supports scientific research and training for healthcare professionals.
One of AIBLUD's most important contributions has been the development and continuous updating of guidelines for the establishment and organization of donor human milk banks, created in collaboration with the Italian Society of Neonatology. Working together with the Italian Ministry of Health, in 2014 the association helped develop and publish national guidance for organizing and managing donor human milk banks within the broader framework of breastfeeding protection, promotion, and support. These documents helped standardize donor selection, milk collection, treatment, storage, and distribution procedures, ensuring high levels of quality and safety throughout the country.
Over the years, AIBLUD has supported a significant expansion of the Italian milk bank network. While around 30 facilities were active in 2013, that number continued to grow in the following years and eventually exceeded forty, placing Italy among the most advanced European countries in this field. This growth has allowed an increasing number of premature newborns and infants with serious conditions to benefit from donor human milk, with documented advantages in reducing infections and necrotizing enterocolitis and in improving long-term clinical outcomes.
The association has also promoted national congresses, training activities, and multicenter research projects, helping spread scientific knowledge about human milk and its use in neonatal care. Collaboration with national and international institutions has enabled Italy to take a leading role in the development of European human milk bank networks as well.
Today, AIBLUD is an essential point of reference for Italian neonatology. Through milk bank coordination, breastfeeding promotion, professional training, and scientific research, the association has made a decisive contribution to improving care for the most vulnerable newborns, affirming the value of donor human milk as an important therapeutic and public health resource.