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Abstract

This is an informative booklet on breast milk donation produced by nursing students from Parnaíba-PI, members of the Extension Project “Breast Milk Donation: An Act that Saves Lives”, which is an Extension Project of the State University of Piauí (UESPI). This scientific production aims to inform in an objective and simple way the main topics related to breast milk donation, addressing topics such as nutritional benefits of breast milk, lactation management, breastfeeding tips, how to express breast milk, main challenges of breastfeeding, impact on public health of breast milk donation, the role of milk banks, requirements for human milk donation, steps for human milk donation, benefits for the breast milk donor and the child, and demystifying breast milk donation. Each topic was written in a way that both the academic community and the general population understand the main issues related to this topic, which is essential for public health. This booklet aims to simplify the public's understanding of breast milk donation, covering current and truthful data and information to understand how the breastfeeding process works, in addition to showing the functionality of milk banks, which process and pasteurize donated milk so that it reaches babies without the risk of contamination or disease, which is a careful and important process. It is a material that comes from the commitment of this Extension Project to produce and share knowledge, so that more pregnant and postpartum women feel aware and become breast milk donors, so that more babies can benefit from this essential food, as well as to avoid the early use of infant formulas, which, although they help with nutrition, do not have all the properties that human milk has.