A partnership between Fort Worth-based Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas and women's health services provider Diana Health has established a donation site for breast milk in Allen.
The donation site at Diana Health’s Allen office, called a milk drop-off depot, accepts donations of breast milk from prescreened donors.
The context
The nonprofit milk bank, which collects, screens, pasteurizes and distributes breast milk donations, has dispensed over 10 million ounces of donor milk since opening in 2004. The organization also offers location support and breastfeeding education resources.
Breast milk dispensed by the organization primarily supports fragile and premature infants in neonatal intensive care units around North Texas. The organization also supports babies that are outpatient and have a medical need for donor milk.
“Our vision is that one day every baby would have the opportunity to receive human milk,” said Amy Trotter, who serves as the community relations director for Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas.
Pasteurized donor milk can be recommended when a mother experiences delayed lactation or can’t provide her own breast milk, the organization’s website states, and can be used to help infants by preventing or help them recover from necrotizing enterocolitis, which is a type of gut infection, Trotter said.
“Whereas bacteria in breast milk would not be harmful to a healthy baby, we do pasteurize it because of the vulnerable population that we serve,” Trotter said. “It is monitored very carefully and done very carefully in our laboratory.”
Diving in deeper
The organization accepts donations from qualified, screened mothers who have excess breast milk. The donors go through a “rigorous screening process,” Trotter said, which includes an interview, health screening and free blood test.
“That would be a mom who has filled up her freezer [with breast milk], she knows her baby isn't going to use it and she doesn't want to throw it away,” Trotter said. “That's the perfect mom for us.”
The new Allen depot site joins a number of existing depot sites that the organization operates throughout Texas, according to its website. The depot site accepts donations from mothers who are approved donors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“That whole area out in Collin County, we have known for a while we really needed more depot sites out there,” Trotter said. “What's really great about Diana Health is that it's not an intimidating place to park and take your milk in. This is all, for us, about helping moms with convenience.”
Quote of note
"This partnership is about caring for families beyond a single appointment," said Terri Martinez, community outreach manager for Diana Health in Allen, in an emailed statement. "By becoming a Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas donation site, we're making it easier for generous mothers to donate their milk and helping provide a vital resource for premature and critically ill babies. It's one more way we can strengthen the health of our community and support families from the very beginning."
Get involved
To learn more about Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas or to become a qualified breast milk donor, visit www.texasmilkbank.org/how-to-help.
“Donor moms are really the reason that we're able to do what we do,” Trotter said. “We are just so grateful for any families who consider donating extra milk. We definitely can put it to good use.”
