Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Breast milk can save a baby's life. Beyond providing basic nutrition to promote the baby's physical growth and inner body, breast milk contains disease-fighting antibodies to enhance their immune system. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding within the first hour and exclusively for the first six months.
Unfortunately, some moms can’t provide breast milk to their newborn and sometimes, they and their babies who need it most, those premature or sick, find themselves relying on donated breast milk. That’s why Intermountain Medical Center opened a new mother’s milk donation and outreach center last year, the Intermountain Donation and Outreach Center. Utah moms can donate their breast milk to the center to help babies in need.
A solution to a problem
The Intermountain Donation and Outreach Center opened in April 2015 under the leadership of Miriam Bastian, NP, and neonatologist Jerry King, MD. The center provides an opportunity for more babies in the community to receive and benefit from mother’s milk. “We notified the community about how important human milk is for all infants, especially our tiniest and most fragile babies,” says Rebecca Ruminski, RN, lactation specialist in Intermountain Medical Center’s NICU.
And the community responded—thousands of ounces of donations poured in. “We didn’t expect 19,043 ounces in nine months!” says Lori Eining, RN, Director of Women and Newborn Services in the Central Region. The center received so many donations that it received the Donation Center of the Year award in 2015 from the Mountain West Mother's Milk Bank, a member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
How the donation center works
The Intermountain center serves as a collection and screening site for the Mothers’ Milk Bank in Denver. Our staff facilitates donation drop-offs and provides blood tests for mothers who want to be milk donors. All donations are then sent to the bank in Denver for pasteurization and then delivered to hospitalized babies across the country, many of them in Utah. “Our NICU orders it for our local infants,” says Ruminski. The pasteurized milk is used to feed infants until their own mother has milk available, or for infants whose mothers can’t provide their own milk.
How you can get involved
Potential milk donors must complete a pre-screening and blood test before they can drop off donations at the center. The screening ensures the donor is healthy and has enough milk supply to meet her own baby’s needs first. Blood is tested for infectious diseases. Women who are interested can fill out a donation screening form on the Denver Mothers’ Milk Bank website at www.milkbankcolorado.org or call them at 303-869-1888. For more information about the Intermountain Medical Center Donation and Outreach Center, visit IntermountainMedicalCenter.org/milkdonation or call Rebecca Ruminski at 801-507-7683.
