Luton doctor recognised in King's Birthday Honours for pioneering work to help save vulnerable babies

A Luton-based doctor has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for her work on human milk banking and breastfeeding support.

Dr Natalie Shenker, together with Gillian Weaver, are co-founders of the Human Milk Foundation charity. They have both been awarded MBEs.

Natalie is a doctor with a PhD in cancer and environmental epigenetics and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow with Imperial College London, leading a programme of vital research in human milk science.

Gillian has specialised in the field of human milk banking for 30 years and has helped establish human milk banks globally including Australia, India, Kenya and Vietnam as well as in the UK.

Driven by the need for greater equity of access to assured supplies of safe, screened donor milk for hospitals, to support the most vulnerable premature babies on neonatal units, the pair came together in 2016 to set up non profit The Hearts Milk Bank – the UK’s first independent human milk bank. In 2018, they brought together a team to launch the Human Milk Foundation charity with the aim of building a new model to support provision of donor milk across England & Wales, provide specialist lactation support to parents, and initiate education and research programmes.

The Human Milk Foundation, based at Rothamsted Institute in Harpenden provides donor human milk to sick, premature babies in hospital neonatal intensive care units. One of the leading causes of mortality in premature babies is a serious condition called necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) – this condition kills more babies each year than childhood leukaemia. Premature infants who are fed exclusively with human milk are at lower risk of developing this condition, so if a mother is unable to produce her own milk, donor milk helps to protect the baby and can act as a bridge to give mum time and support to establish her own milk supply.

Since its launch in 2018, the charity has expanded provision of donor milk across England and Wales through a network of human milk hubs and has recruited more than 1,500 milk donors. The Hearts Milk Bank now has a yearly output of over 4,000 litres, making it the largest supplier of donor human milk in the country.

In 2020 the duo formed The Global Alliance of Milk Banks and Associations (GAMBA) – a Virtual Collaborative Network of healthcare professionals and others working in the field of human milk banking to collaborate and share information and resources. The alliance is now represented by over 35 countries globally and is actively engaged in planning projects and research, with a shared vision of a world where every baby can have access to human milk.

In a joint statement, Natalie and Gillian said: “'We are delighted that our efforts in support of sick and premature infants and their families through the Human Milk Foundation and the Hearts Milk Bank have been recognised in this way. We hope that all who have contributed to these organisations through the donation of their surplus breastmilk or the giving of their time and money and through their volunteering also feel proud to be part of the achievements that led to our being awarded MBEs for services to charity and to human milk banking.”

To find out more about the charity, visit the website.