Banco de Leite Humano

What Banco de Leite Humano does

The Rede Brasileira de Bancos de Leite Humano (rBLH-BR) is a public health initiative coordinated by Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) under Brazil's Ministry of Health, operating the world's largest and most complex network of human milk banks (BLHs) and collection posts (PCLHs). Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, the network comprises 225 functioning BLHs and 216 collection posts distributed across Brazil, collecting, processing, and distributing approximately 160,000 liters of certified human milk annually to premature and low-weight newborns in neonatal units of the public healthcare system (SUS). The coordination is supported by two Fiocruz technical units: the Instituto Nacional de Saúde da Mulher, da Criança e do Adolescente Fernandes Figueira (IFF) and the Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde (Icict).

Core technology combines low-cost pasteurization with HACCP-based quality control, ABNT-aligned technical standards, and the BLH-WEB information management system that tracks donors, collection, processing, and distribution across the entire network. The program operates as a managed public health service funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Health through the Política Nacional de Aleitamento Materno, with services provided free of charge to end beneficiaries. Internationally, the rBLH coordinates technical cooperation in over 20 countries across the Americas, Europe, and Africa via the Agência Brasileira de Cooperação (ABC), the Ibero-American Program (IberBLH approved 2007), and the Rede Global de Bancos de Leite Humano (established 2015). IFF/Fiocruz has been designated as PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre BRA-87 since March 2021 and was redesignated in March 2025 for another four years until March 2029. Additional product and program layers include the PCFioBLH quality certification program (launched July 2023), the BLH 301 professional training course via Fiocruz Virtual Campus, and a public-facing Data Observatory.

Name

Banco de Leite Humano

Legal name

Rede Global de Bancos de Leite Humano

Website

https://rblh.fiocruz.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Rede Brasileira de Bancos de Leite Humano (rBLH-BR), coordinated by Fiocruz under Brazil's Ministry of Health, operates the world's largest human milk bank network — 225 banks and 216 collection posts — distributing approximately 160,000 liters of certified human milk annually to premature newborns in the SUS and providing technical cooperation to over 20 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Milk Banking Services

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAHAAAA

Consumer Packaged Fluid Milk (White Milk) Processing

Agriculture & Food Production/Dairy Processing/Fluid Milk Processing (Pasteurized, ESL, UHT)

SECONDARYAFAHAHAB

Follow-On & Growing-Up Milk Formula Manufacturing (Stage 2/3+)

Agriculture & Food Production/Dairy Processing/Infant Formula & Specialized Dairy Nutrition Manufacturing

Keywords

• Human milk banking
• Neonatal nutrition services
• Breastfeeding support
• Public health milk banks
• Donor milk processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Rio de Janeiro

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public Health Funding: Funded by Brazil's Ministry of Health through the Política Nacional de Aleitamento Materno (National Breastfeeding Policy). Services are provided free of charge to premature and low-weight newborns in public healthcare facilities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Rede Brasileira de Bancos de Leite Humano (rBLH-BR) operates the world's largest network of human milk banks, collecting, pasteurizing, and distributing approximately 160,000 liters of certified human milk annually to premature and low-weight newborns in neonatal units across Brazil's public healthcare system (SUS). The network also delivers breastfeeding support, technical training for healthcare professionals, quality certification (PCFioBLH), and international cooperation through the Ibero-American Program (IberBLH) and Global Network of Human Milk Banks.

Product overview

The Rede Brasileira de Bancos de Leite Humano (rBLH-BR) operates the world's largest and most complex network of Human Milk Banks (BLHs) and Collection Posts (PCLHs), collecting and distributing approximately 160,000 liters of human milk annually. The network is coordinated by Fiocruz and includes the Fiocruz Certification Program (PCFioBLH) for quality assurance. Internationally, the rBLH coordinates the Ibero-American Program (IberBLH) and the Global Network, providing technical cooperation to over 20 countries. Key services include the BLH 301 professional training course and the BLH-WEB information management system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PCFioBLH: Programa de Certificação Fiocruz de Bancos de Leite Humano - Fiocruz Certification Program for Human Milk Banks
• IberBLH
• Centro Colaborador BRA-87 da OPAS/OMS

Products and services

• BLH (Bancos de Leite Humano) - Human Milk Banks Human Milk Banks that collect, pasteurize, quality-certify, and distribute donor human milk to premature and low-weight newborns in neonatal units, while providing breastfeeding guidance and support to mothers.
• PCLH (Postos de Coleta de Leite Humano) - Human Milk Collection Posts Satellite collection posts that operate under the coordination of human milk banks, serving as decentralized collection points for donor breast milk across Brazil's public healthcare network.
• PCFioBLH (Programa de Certificação Fiocruz de Bancos de Leite Humano) Fiocruz Certification Program for Human Milk Banks providing continuous quality evaluation of BLH products, processes, and services through structured certification audits.
• IberBLH (Programa Ibero-americano de Bancos de Leite Humano) Ibero-American multilateral cooperation program focused on reducing adverse health conditions for premature and low-birth-weight infants through knowledge and technology exchange in breastfeeding and human milk banking across Ibero-American countries.
• BLH 301 Course (Processing and Quality Control of Human Milk) Professional qualification course offered through the Fiocruz Virtual Campus that trains healthcare professionals in human milk processing, quality control, pasteurization, and lactation support; qualified 676 professionals from Brazil and Latin American countries between May 2025 and June 2026.
• Sistema de Gestão da Informação (BLH-WEB) Web-based information management system for tracking donors, milk collection, processing, quality control, and distribution data across the human milk bank network.

Quantifiable outcome

• Approximately 160,000 liters of human milk distributed annually to premature and low-weight newborns
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Itaipu BinacionalmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 November 2025Itaipu Binacional supported the I Binational Congress Brazil-Paraguay on Quality Certification in Human Milk Banks, held November 4-7 in Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), as part of the cooperation between the two countries' human milk bank networks.
• Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2021IFF/Fiocruz designated as PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre BRA-87 for strengthening human milk banks since March 2021. Redesignated in March 2025 for another four years until March 2029. The rBLH operates as a Collaborating Centre with focus on Agenda 2030, supporting PAHO/WHO member countries in strengthening their human milk bank networks as a strategy for child health promotion.
• Secretaria-Geral Iberoamericana (SEGIB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007SEGIB approved the Ibero-American Program of Human Milk Banks (IberBLH) during the XVII Ibero-American Summit in Chile. The program coordinates multilateral cooperation among 22 Ibero-American countries for exchanging knowledge and technology in breastfeeding and human milk banking.
• Agência Brasileira de Cooperação (ABC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian Cooperation Agency that includes human milk bank cooperation in its international agenda, coordinating bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation projects with partner countries. ABC has facilitated cooperation with over 20 countries since 2005.
• UNICEFmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnited Nations Children's Fund participates in the Ibero-American human milk bank network cooperation, contributing to the global effort for child health and nutrition.
• Country Cooperation Partners (Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and others)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 20 countries receive technical cooperation from Brazil through ABC-Fiocruz for implementation and development of human milk banks. Countries include Argentina, Angola, Belize, Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Canadian Blood Services: Canada's national blood and biological material operator. Comparable as a publicly funded, regulated biological material banking system with quality standards, hospital distribution, and government oversight.
• Vitalant: Largest nonprofit blood collector in the US, operating biological material collection, processing, and hospital distribution networks. Operationally analogous in donor recruitment, processing rigor, and regulated distribution to medical facilities.
• NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT): UK public sector body that collects, processes, and distributes biological materials (blood, tissues, stem cells) within the NHS. Analogous to rBLH in operating a publicly funded donor-to-hospital biological material supply chain at national scale.
• American Red Cross Biomedical Services: Large US nonprofit operating one of the biggest biological material collection and distribution networks (blood). Structurally analogous as a donor-sourced biological material bank with hospital distribution, though operating at far larger scale and across different product categories.

Direct peers

• Prolacta Bioscience: US-based commercial leader in human milk-based nutritional products for premature infants. Direct peer operating in the human milk value chain serving NICU populations, with a for-profit commercialization model that contrasts with rBLH's public health model.
• Medolac Laboratories: Commercial human milk company focused on shelf-stable donor milk products for hospital use. Direct peer in the human milk banking and processing value chain serving premature infants.
• Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA): North American association coordinating nonprofit human milk banks. Operates a structurally similar donor collection, pasteurization, and NICU distribution model in the US and Canada, making it the closest mission-aligned peer to rBLH-BR.
• Mothers' Milk Bank of San Jose: One of the largest nonprofit human milk banks in the US and an HMBANA member. Comparable in mission and operational structure: collects, pasteurizes, and distributes donor human milk to NICUs and outpatient infants.

Emerging players

• NeoLacta Lifesciences: India-based human milk bank operator and processor with emerging international footprint. Comparable operating model in human milk collection and processing for NICU use, with growing focus on South Asian and emerging markets.

Others

• UNICEF Supply Division: UN agency that procures and supplies maternal and child health products globally. A key ecosystem partner to rBLH in multilateral maternal-infant nutrition initiatives; comparable in mission but not in direct operating model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@redeblh
• Instagraminstagram.com/redeblh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/banco-de-leite-humano

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Banco de Leite Humano