Hospital’s milk depot donations on the rise
They’re like breast-milk fairies: there one minute and gone the next, depositing virus- and bacteria-fighting liquid gold — all while their babies snooze in the backseat.
Thanks in part to a drivethrough, drop-off system at Florida Hospital for Women in Orlando, contributions to the institution’s milk depot have more than doubled since last year, spokeswoman Claudia Arbona said.
Approved donors can pull up to the hospital’s entrance with their pre-pumped milk, and an employee will come out to collect the donation.
“It’s kind of like Christmas when you have that perfect present you want to give somebody,” said Laura Baran, a Florida Hospital nurse who has given more than 2,000 ounces of milk since October. “That’s how I feel when I give my milk to the bank.”
Milk depots and individuals send contributions to the Mothers’ Milk Bank of Florida, which processes and distributes them across Florida and surrounding states. For premature and critically ill babies, whose mothers haven’t started lactating or are too stressed to produce milk, the donations may be lifesavers.
“There’s no living cells in formula, there are no antibodies in formula, so there’s no protective properties in formula that’ll keep the baby from getting an infection,” said Linda Califf, program director for the bank.
Milk donations are pasteurized to eliminate bacteria before distribution. Though the process causes some nutrient loss, pasteurized milk stays fresh for a year after being pumped, according to Califf.
Processing costs are covered while infants are hospitalized, but after discharge, the price of milk jumps to $4 an ounce. At this rate, a five-pound baby can eat his way through $70 to $75 per day, Califf said. Through its new Babies at Home program, the bank subsidizes milk costs for infants with a pediatrician’s prescription.
Since it opened in June 2015, the bank has received about 250,000 ounces of breast milk. There are about 608 approved donors, though only about 160 contribute at any time. Women donated 20,324 ounces to Florida Hospital’s depot between Jan. 6, 2016, and Jan. 4, 2017, Arbona said.
An upsurge in donations occurs as a hurricane approaches — and women fear their milk-storing freezers will lose power — and as Christmas nears. Suppliers need room for turkeys and ice cream, Califf said.
When the bank sends a woman’s milk to, say, Florida Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, she gets an email.
“You’re ready to feed the baby, and you know it’s donor milk, and it’s like ‘ooh, I wonder if this was mine,’ ” said Baran. Her son, Samuel, is 16 months old. “I’ll just keep donating as long as I have the milk to donate … If I’ve got the extra milk, I love giving it.”