Single-center Evaluation of Human Milk Quantity and Quality Over Five Years (HUMBLE)

March 16, 2026 updated by: Marek Petras, Charles University, Czech Republic

Evaluation of the Quantity and Quality of Human Breast Milk Collected in a Single-center Milk Bank Over the Last Five Years

This single-center retrospective observational study includes all human milk donors collaborating with the milk bank at České Budějovice Hospital between 2021 and 2025. Using anonymized data extracted from the hospital database, the study will quantify the frequency of donations and the individual and cumulative volume of donated human milk and will assess the impact of key maternal and perinatal factors - including age, BMI, parity, mode of delivery, and timing of donations - on the quantity and quality of donated milk, based on routine biochemical and microbiological parameters.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Donor human milk is a key component of nutritional care for preterm and high-risk neonates when mother's own milk is unavailable or insufficient. A better under-standing of which factors are associated with higher or lower donated volumes, and with favorable biochemical and microbiological milk characteristics, may help optimize several aspects of milk bank practice. This study aims to characterize a five-year experience from a single hospital-based human milk bank in terms of donation pat-terns and donated milk volume. It also aims to evaluate the relationship between key maternal and perinatal characteristics and both the quantity and routinely assessed quality of donated human milk.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
500

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Czechia
      • Prague, Czechia, 10000
        • Recruiting
        • Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Lactating women who donated human milk to the hospital-based human milk bank at České Budějovice Hospital between 2021 and 2025. All donors met the local eligi-bility criteria for milk donation and collaborated with the milk bank during the de-fined period.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Lactating women who donated human milk to the hospital-based human milk bank at České Budějovice Hospital during the period 2021-2025.
  • Accepted as donors according to local eligibility criteria for human milk donation.
  • At least one recorded donation of human milk with available data on donation date and volume in the milk bank database.
  • Availability of basic maternal and perinatal data (e.g., age, BMI, parity, mode of delivery, timing of donation) in the hospital information sys-tem.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Donors with no recorded volume or date of human milk donation in the milk bank database.
  • Records with evident data errors or inconsistencies that cannot be reliably corrected (e.g., implausible dates or volumes).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Human Milk Donors
Lactating women who donated human milk to the hospital-based human milk bank at České Budějovice Hospital between 2021 and 2025.
Other: No Interventions
Retrospective observational study based on routinely collected clinical and milk bank data; no experimental procedure, treatment, or behavioral intervention is administered.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Donation intensity
Time Frame: Assessed at the end of each donor's donation period (from first to last recorded donation), within January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2025.
Donation intensity, defined as the cumulative volume of donated human milk per donor (mL) and the number of donation episodes per donor over the individual donation period within the 5-year study window (2021-2025).
Assessed at the end of each donor's donation period (from first to last recorded donation), within January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2025.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quality of donated human milk
Time Frame: Assessed at the end of each donor's donation period (from first to last recorded donation), within January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2025.
Quality of donated human milk, assessed by routine biochemical composition parameters and microbiological safety indicators over the individual donation period within the 5-year study window (2021-2025). Biochemical composition parameters: fat (g/L), protein (g/L), carbohydrate (g/L), and calculated energy content (kcal/100 mL) Microbiological safety indicators: total viable bacterial count (CFU/mL) and culture result classified as pass/fail according to the milk bank's routine acceptance criteria
Assessed at the end of each donor's donation period (from first to last recorded donation), within January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2025.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Charles University, Czech Republic

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Nemocnice České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czechia

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Director: Pavel Dlouhý, PhD, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 4, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 15, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 30, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 16, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • HUMBLE

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared due to the sensitive nature of donor information, absence of explicit consent for external data sharing, and restrictions imposed by local regulations and GDPR.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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