OBJECTIVES: to recount the history of the Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira (IMIP)'s Human Milk Bank (HMB), focusing on its pioneers and the introduction of the service. METHODS: a descriptive transversal study with historical focus based on the methods of oral history. The main materials used were bibliographical sources and direct structured interviews with seven participants. Content analysis revealed two categories: "the Creation of the IMIP's Human Milk Bank: its pioneers and their influences"; and "the Introduction of the Service". RESULTS: the IMIP's HMB, set up in 1987, was the brainchild of Professor Fernando Figueira and Dr. Vilneide Braga and its aim was to meet the needs of the Maternity hospital and its neonatal intensive care unit. The inauguration was attended by politicians, breastfeeding experts, TV celebrities and hospital staff. CONCLUSIONS: the methods of oral history were used to build up a history of the origins and evolution of the IMIP's HMB based on the testimony of the individuals involved. The history of the IMIP's HMB is an ongoing, living process and force that produces change, dreams and hope and keeps alight the ideal of a better world for children, mothers and for society at large.
Breast feeding; Milk banks; History