Haukeland rethinks donor milk with Norwegian technology

📸Haukeland University Hospital

Jeanette Grønnslett remembers well what the milk kitchen used to look like. Spilled milk on the countertops. Spilled milk in the refrigerators on the wards. At the same time, the hospital had to make every drop of donor milk count because supply was so limited.

– It simply didn’t make sense, says Anue founder Jeanette Grønnslett.

Grønnslett worked for nearly 20 years as a neonatal nurse before founding the Bodø based company Anue. It was there, in the day-to-day care of some of the most vulnerable patients, that the idea for the company emerged. Donor milk was collected in one container, transferred to another for pasteurisation, labelled by hand using pen and paper, frozen, thawed and then poured into yet another container before finally reaching the infant. Each of these steps represents a potential source of contamination, mix-ups or waste. For the most critically ill premature infants, donor milk can be a vital treatment.

– Every transfer point was a potential source of error, while at the same time we knew how important this milk was, says Grønnslett. – This is not just nutrition. For the sickest premature infants, donor milk can be lifesaving.

Norwegian hospitals are gradually expanding their milk bank services, and interest in donor milk has grown both clinically and politically. This has also made the need for systems specifically designed for this purpose increasingly apparent. Haukeland University Hospital first heard about Anue at a milk bank meeting and requested a sample. The solution appeared to be a simple and well thought out answer to a problem they knew all too well. However, changing established workflows in a clinical setting rarely happens on its own, and for Anue, the collaboration has involved just as much training and follow-up as the product itself.

– As a small start-up, it has been crucial that Haukeland was willing to try something new in an environment where routines are deeply embedded, says Grønnslett.

Anue, led by founder Jeanette Grønnslett, has developed an innovative solution for handling donor breast milk. 📸Anue

One container from donor to infant

The solution adopted by Haukeland is the Anue Concept Kit, the world’s first donor breast milk system in which the same container follows the milk from donor to infant. The container is a clean, flexible bag with an integrated ENFit compatible system, designed to fit into existing procedures without requiring departments to overhaul their workflows all at once. In practice, the system is used by milk bank staff, donors and neonatal nurses, from distribution to the donor, through processing in the milk bank, to administration to the infant.

One of the observations Anue has received from Haukeland is that the design itself has an emotional impact on both staff and donors. It becomes more than a technical process; it feels meaningful.

– Testing donor milk has become much easier, and we spend less time preparing the milk because several steps in the process have been eliminated, says Renate Riska Waldow, nurse at the donor milk bank at Haukeland University Hospital.

– The product is also something we are proud to provide to donors, and that is something they notice themselves, she adds.

Perhaps the most important feedback, however, relates to hygiene. Because the milk is handled within the closed Anue system from start to finish, bacterial levels are significantly lower, greatly reducing the need for pasteurisation compared with previous practice.

– Since we started using Anue’s products, more of the milk contains little or no bacteria. We can provide raw milk to patients and no longer need to pasteurise as much as before. This means the smallest and most vulnerable infants can receive the best possible milk, says Waldow.

The experience from the implementation at Haukeland shows that changing established routines takes time. Grønnslett highlights patience, availability and thorough training as key factors in ensuring a successful transition.

The staff at Haukeland’s donor milk bank are pleased with Anue’s system for handling breast milk. 📸Haukeland University Hospital

From pilot project to new standard in donor milk management

At Haukeland, the Anue Concept Kit is now an integrated part of the milk bank’s daily operations and is no longer considered a pilot project. For Anue, collaboration with Norwegian milk banks is important commercially, but even more importantly as clinical validation in its home market. These experiences are now being brought into discussions with potential international partners. References from hospitals such as Haukeland are among the first things the company presents in meetings abroad, as real-world results carry significant weight. Anue is currently established in several European markets, including Germany, Austria, Sweden and Spain, has recently received FDA registration for the US market, and is in the process of obtaining ISO 13485 certification.

– When a pilot customer like Haukeland becomes a long-term paying customer, it is the strongest validation a founder can receive. It is hospitals like Haukeland, and all the other organisations that choose to use Anue in their daily work, that make it possible for us to continue growing, says Grønnslett.

– Anue will not only become the standard in Norway – it will become the new global standard.

Anue recently won the Red Dot Award for Product Design in the medical devices category, and the solution is now on display at a museum in Essen, Germany. Read more.