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Home › Articles › Breastfeeding › Breast Milk to Go

Breast Milk to Go

Helping Infants in Need of Nutrition

By Tracy B. McGinnis

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Jacqueline Soriano's son Kade was born five weeks early with a hearty appetite. Suffering from gestational diabetes, Soriano's milk supply was not coming in, and she was concerned about how she would feed her premature, jaundiced son. Soon after, a lactation consultant paid her a visit and offered her another mother's breast milk.

"I had heard of breast milk banks but didn't know much about them," says Soriano. "My husband and I were all for it, along with my mother and aunt, but the rest of the family wasn't sure what I was doing, and I could tell they were uncomfortable."

Baby Kade was given a week's supply of donated breast milk in the hospital and sent home with another week's supply, at which time Jacqueline's milk supply came in and she was able to breastfeed on her own.

What Is a Milk Bank?
The Human Milk Banking Association defines donor milk banks as, "A service established for the purpose of collecting, screening, processing and distributing donated human milk to meet the specific medical needs of individuals for whom it is prescribed."

Milk banks such as Healthone Alliance Mothers' Milk Bank in Denver, Colo., which opened in May 1984, receive and dispense about 100,000 ounces of milk every year. "The total amount of milk all the banks distributed last year was 568,000 ounces," says Laraine Lockhart Borman, the alliance's director. "Milk banking is growing in the United States, as more research shows the benefits of human milk. Where Mom's own milk is not available, donor human milk is first choice."


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