תרומת חלב אם ובנק חלב: מבט היסטורי

Breast milk donation has been documented since the dawn of human history. Religious and cultural concepts influenced the importance of consuming breast milk and breastfeeding in ancient times. Until the early 19th century, wetnurses and breast-milk substitutes, such as those based on flour-water mixtures and animal milk, remained the main diet of babies who were not breastfed by their mothers.The industrial revolution, the progress of science and technology with the development of feeding bottles, and the improvement in baby feeding formulas brought about a significant change in infant feeding.Breast-milk banks have existed in the world since the beginning of the 20th century. However, only in the 1980s did the World Health Organization (WHO) declare the importance of breastfeeding and breast milk. About a decade later, various countries began establishing national policies for feeding babies with donated breast milk. Nonetheless, in some countries, the institutions for donated human milk and Milk Banks are underdeveloped. In this article, we will present historical perceptions regarding breastfeeding and donating human milk in the world and Israel and the background of the current challenges to promoting human milk donations.