Human milk bank and the Family Health Strategy: partnership for life

Abstract

Objective: to review aspects of the relationship between Human Milk Banks (HMB) and the Family Health Strategy (FHS). Methods: integrative literature review, with descriptive and exploratory approach to the texts. Searches were conducted in the databases of the Virtual Health Library and of the SciELO with the following keywords: human milk, milk banks, donations, prenatal care and family health program. We included articles published between the years 2000-2011, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Results: the results showed a precarious knowledge of FHS professionals about HMB, which reflects an incipient work during prenatal care, with only the superficial aspects of HMB being covered, which are not sufficient to attract a greater number of donors. We noted a lack of co-responsibility between these institutions in promoting breastfeeding. Conclusion: it is necessary to establish effective partnerships between the FHS and HMB to raise awareness of the mothers, providing increased number of donors and helping to consolidate the activities of HMB. There are few references addressing this issue, which suggests the need for more studies.