Six insulated shipping boxes filled with 7,993 ounces of breast milk donated by local mothers to feed premature babies are stacked on a dolly at Fagen Pharmacy, 3401 Calumet Ave., Valparaiso.
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The breast milk will be sent to The Milk Bank in Indianapolis, according to Leslie Durbin, a medical equipment specialist for Fagen. The pharmacy is one of three Milk Depots, or breast milk drop-off locations in Lake County, with the others being Crown Point Obstetrics and Gynecology, 800 W. Burrell Drive, and Gary Methodist Hospital, 600 Grant St.
To put the ounces in perspective, a newborn premature infant may be fed as little as one milliliter (1 ml) every one to six hours, according to Terri Hendrickson, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse at Gary Methodist Hospital.
“The bowels are the last thing ready to go,” as babies develop, Hendrickson said. “If we start feeding with breast milk, we have less bowel sickness. We start in tiny amounts. We increase that as the baby tolerates it.”
Doctors will prescribe donor breast milk for infants when a mother’s own milk is not available, either because she may not be producing enough or may be too sick to provide any. In Indiana, those prescriptions are filled by The Milk Bank, a member of The Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
“We have a priority system. NICU [neo-natal intensive care} is priority. There may be a reason why a baby might need supplementation. (For example), the baby is not tolerating formula,” said Sarah Long, clinical coordinator and lactation consultant for The Milk Bank.
Though Methodist Hospital does not currently provide donated breast milk to its NICU babies, it has taken a first step by instituting a Milk Depot, said Kimberly Sausman, hospital nurse and lactation consultant.
“We met with The Milk Bank because we’re trying to encourage the donation of breast milk for our NICU setting and it involved becoming a donation site,” Sausman said. “In our population that delivers at Methodist, we see a lot of sick moms and we see a lot of sick babies. These are at-risk babies.”
That has drawn the attention of The Milk Bank.
“Northwest Indiana is high on our radar because we know the infant mortality rates are higher there,” Long said. “In the State of Indiana, our infant mortality rate is about 7 percent and that is significantly high compared with the rest of the country.”
Lavawn Souther, nurse and lactation consultant, oversees the Milk Depot at Crown Point Obstetrics and Gynecology, which she set up in 2014.
“I saw the need for donor milk, because so many babies in NICU would be better off with breast milk,” she said.
Women who choose to donate their oversupply of breast milk must be screened.
“The process is easy. I’m here to walk the donor through the entire process,” said Lauren Duncan, donor mother coordinator for The Milk Bank. Once a mom calls The Milk Bank and undergoes a quick phone screen, she is sent a packet with paperwork and instructions for a blood draw to test for disease.
“All of the milk is vigorously screened and then distributed to wherever the need is,” said Long. “Our Milk Depots are drop-off points. They operate as a receiving and delivery hub. This milk is only screened by us. We know the donor and medical history. The mom goes to drop off the milk and the depot receives the milk into a freezer and they call us when the freezer is full. It is a one-stop for the mom.”
Duncan said moms are asked to donate 100 ounces by the time their babies turn 2, Duncan said.
That amount is not difficult for many mothers, Souther said.
“I have moms who have donated 2,000 ounces,” she said.
Once the milk arrives in Indianapolis, The Milk Bank pasteurizes and bottles it, Duncan said.
The Milk Bank and its depots have a Bereavement Donation program for mothers of babies who have died. It provides an opportunity for those moms to work through their grief by donating their breast milk.
The program is personal for Duncan, who became a breast milk donor after her son, Michael, born at 24 weeks’ gestation, died after one month.
“I was left with 700 ounces of milk that I had pumped over the course of his short life,” she said. “A friend of mine donated a few years previously. I really do think, by donating my milk in his memory, it was a huge part of my healing. It has given me purpose.
“Now, I have a healthy 4-year-old girl and she’s such a gift. By donating after my son’s loss, it put me on this path to what I’m doing. Helping other grieving moms work through their grief has been healing for me.”
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The need is constant.
“We always need donor milk,” Souther said. “I do a lot of promotion for it. Sometimes my freezer is overflowing and sometimes it is empty. The biggest thing — any mom who donates is literally saving a baby’s life. It is one of my passions. Helping moms with breast feeding and helping these critically ill babies with anything we can do.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
To donate
Call The Milk Bank at 1-877-829-7470.