UKAMB became a register charity in 1997, with twelve founding milk banks, down from nineteen milk banks known to have existed in 1981 (DHSS report, 1981 and reported in Balmer, 2010), one up from 1993 following the closure of Sorrento Maternity Hospital service. A conference was organised by Sue Balmer and colleagues which included a contribution from Lois Arnold from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) discussing recent guidelines they had established. A working party was formed, and ‘Guidelines for the Establishment and Operation of Human Milk Banks in the UK’ was formed and was published by the British Paediatric Association in 1994. The guidelines were planned to be revised every three years, and the second edition was launched in 1997 and included the working party Angus Nicoll, Tony Williams, Gillian Weaver and Sue Balmer. The first chair of UKAMB was Sue Balmer, who holds a PhD in microbiology, and who worked at the Sorrento Milk Bank from 1983 until its closure in 1993.

The objectives of UKAMB were ‘the protection and preservation of public health in particular but not exclusively by:

• The provision of information and advice in all areas of human milk banking including best practice guidance.
• The promotion of research regarding human milk banking and associated subjects and dissemination of the useful results thereof.’

By 2002 there were fourteen human milk banks in UKAMB. Outreach exchanges such as the Roadshows contributed to the expansion of human milk banks across the UK.

On the tenth anniversary of UKAMB in 2007 an international meeting was held in Chester. At this meeting the seeds for a European Milk Banking Association (EMBA) were initiated by Gillian Weaver, UKAMB chair (2003 -2010, and Vice Chair 1997-2003, as well as co-founder), and has recently established the Global Alliance of Human Milk Banking Associations (GAMBA).

UKAMB’s twentieth anniversary in 2017 was marked by EMBA coming to Glasgow, where the current chair of UKAMB is located.

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