Donations slow at new Everett breast milk depot

You might be a blood donor, or maybe you have given bone
marrow or an organ. They are all selfless acts that can
help save lives.

For some reason, the idea of donating breast milk
makes people squeamish, but hospitals say it could be
exactly what an infant needs to survive and develop into a
healthy child.

“At first it seemed kind of strange. But after hearing
more about it, and realizing that milk is milk and knowing
that it could help somebody out, I realized that it’s
really no weirder than blood donation. The ick-factor
went away,” says Malori Hilscher.

After Hilscher had her daughter Grace eleven months ago,
she started pumping to ensure she would have an adequate
supply of milk when she returned to work. She ended up
with a freezer full of the stuff.

She was thinking about throwing it out, like many nursing
mothers do, when she heard about the new Milk Depot at
Providence Hospital in Everett.

“Actually nursing a child is a really intimate thing, so I
don’t think it’s something that I would necessarily do,
and I could see why people would be weirded out by that.
But it’s very different versus just giving them milk
like you would give them formula. There’s really no
difference,” Hilscher says.

While there is no difference in the feeding, there is a
huge difference when it comes to keeping premature babies
healthy. It has unique properties to fend off viruses
that formula can not replicate. Studies have shown the
benefits of using breast milk, ranging from a reduced rate
of respiratory tract infections and Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome to lower rates of adolescent and adult obesity.

The milk donated at Providence and other hospitals around
the country is sent to a pasteurization center in Denver.
It is then shipped out to Neonatal Intensive Care Units
all over the country.

There is a huge demand for it, but a very limited number
of people who are able or willing to donate. That might be
part of the reason Hilscher is still the only person who
has donated to the milk depot at Providence. They have
been open for nearly a month.

Washington and Oregon have the highest rates of
breastfeeding in the country, so the milk managers at
Providence are not sure why they have only had one donor.
They have had more than a dozen new moms call and ask
about the program, but so far only Hilscher has followed
up with a donation.

The milk donated at Providence will not necessarily come
back to the babies there, but once they do start making
regular donations, it will put their NICU higher up on the
priority list for the limited amount of breast milk that
is available.

For more information on how to donate, visit the Mother’s Milk Bank
website.