Milk Banking
Oprah published an article back in March of 2009 in her "O" Magazine. The article, entitled "The Gift", would touch the heart of anyone who has nursed a baby or rather, anyone who has a heart. I was in tears when I finished reading it. It is about a mother who pumped her milk for her severely premature baby and eventually donated an enormous quantity of milk to the WakeMed Mother's Milk Bank in North Carolina. It occurred to me when I finished reading it that many people still may not know that this wonderful option exists. When I read it, a milk bank in New England was getting established. But now, I am excited to update you on what is available in Rhode Island.
I became acquainted with this entire process because the Mother's Milk Bank of New England (MMBNE) opened a dispensary in Boston. The MMBNE received processed milk from the Mothers' Milk Bank of Ohio and dispensed it to families and hospitals in New England. They set up their own processing lab and opened the lab in time for World Breastfeeding Week in August of 2009. The processing lab allows them to screen donors and process milk, rather than just dispense milk. MMBNE now has depots throughout New England that can collect donor milk and ship it to the milk bank in Boston for processing. Healthy Babies, Happy Moms Inc. is a Rhode Island depot for the MMBNE. We collect milk from mothers locally and send it to the lab in Boston to be processed.
Once the milk is received in Boston, it is thawed and mixed with milk from other mothers to make it nutritionally balanced. It is then cultured, pasteurized, cooled, and cultured again before being frozen in a dispensary freezer. It stays there until the culture comes back clean, and is then dispensed as needed, at the discretion of the bank itself.
The screening process for women who want to be milk donors is like that conducted when someone donates blood. The mothers are interviewed and answer questions based on medical history. They also undergo a blood test and if everything comes back okay, they become a registered donor. They can then donate as much and as often as they want, but the MMBNE does require a minimum donation of 150 ounces.
All milk banks are non-profit organizations and charge $4.50 per ounce. A prescription from a doctor is required to dispense the milk and some insurance plans cover the cost, especially when there is a medical need. This cost covers donor screening, and the processing, storing, and shipping of milk. Obviously, it is much more expensive than formula, but it is wonderful option for families that need it. I was excited to recently learn that all RI birthing Hospitals now offer donor milk to women delivering there so that they do not have to use formula if their baby needs supplementation while getting breastfeeding off to a good start.
Please read this beautifully written "O" article if you have a chance. While dated, it provides more information than I can provide in my little newsletter. I especially liked the section where they discussed efforts to have donated milk covered by insurance and what we can do to help further that cause! Wouldn't it be wonderful if screened milk could be available to anyone who needed it, regardless of the cost?