August 17, 2011
Page 9
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Breast Milk ‘Best Medicine’ for Infants
Advocates make strides on
milk bank network for moms
by M indy C ixiper
T he P ortland O bserver
In an effort to provide more milk
for mothers throughout the region
and the county, local community
members and advocates have been
working for over threj^years to get
a local human milk bank up and
running.
According to the Center for Dis­
ease Control and Prevention, Or­
egon has the highest rate of women
who breast feed their babies within
the United States, which gives the
region the potential to share do­
nated milk supplies.
Within the state of Oregon, how­
ever, there isn’t a functioning milk
bank, which exist to screen, collect,
process and dispense donated hu­
man milk as a community service
and provide human milk to babies
whose own mothers cannot supply
the milk to meet their baby’s needs.
While lOmilkbanksexist through­
out the country to serve and in­
crease the health of infants every
day, June Winfield, board chairman
of the Northwest Mother’s Milk
Bank based out of Portland, said
there is a critical need for more.
Last year alone, milk banks dis­
tributed 1.4 million ounces of pro­
cessed donor milk, she said, while
the estimated need was 8 million
ounces.
The North West Mother’s Milk
Bank currently exists within the state
as a ‘Developing Milk Bank', which
means they’ve shown a high per­
centage of willing donor moms and
have created a number of distribu­
tion channels throughout the re­
gion.
All that is left is the actual Milk
bank, said Winfield.
“We only need the middle com­
ponent,” she said. “W e’re about
half way there in our fundraising to
be able to purchase equipment and
hire staff, and we need community
support to reach our goal soon, so
we can provide ‘best medicine' to
NW infants.”
Peggy Andrews, a lactation consultant at Adventist Medical
Center, puts donor milk in the freezer to be later packed and
shipped by FedEx to a California milk bank.
According to Winfield, when a
mother’s own milk is not available,
the next best thing is banked donor
milk.
“The majority of breast milk from
milk banks goes to ill and vulnerable
infants,” she said. “Evidence shows
breast milk is the best medicine for
these infants.”
W infield said, how ever, not
enough people realize human milk
banks exist. “People have no idea,”
she said. “There is a need for educa­
tion and awareness, even among
mothers who have breast fed their
children.”
According to Julie Nash, a lacta­
tion consultant for Adventist Medi­
cal Center in southeast Portland,
one reason for the lack of education
surrounding the need for more
breast milk banks within the coun­
try is because of the high use of
formula as a milk substitute for ba-
Baby Harley, Joanne Ransom and donor mom Krystal, who has donated more than 600 ounces of
breast milk for other nursing mothers, at a clinic in Newberg.
bies.
"Through multiple-billion dollar
marketing campaigns on behalf of
the formula companies, as well as
the lack of education and research
in the field, there has been this idea
that formula is just as good as hu­
man milk,” said Nash. "But we know
now that it’s not. Not even close.”
According to both Nash and
Winfield, there has long been acorn-
mon misconception that formula is
a comparable alternative to breast
milk. Both say, however, breast milk
is the best for human babies, and
that is the bottom line.
A formula is a product that is
basically derived from cow’s milk,
which is obviously a completely
different species,” said Nash. “And
the proteins are much more difficult
for human babies to digest and break
dow n”
Breast milk contains live cells
and immunities the mother has built
up, and they can't put this into
formula, said Winfield.
Although there is yet to be a
functioning milk bank within the
state, progress has been made. Sev­
eral Oregon and southwest Wash­
ington facilities exist as donor drop­
off sites, including nine in Oregon
and one in Washington.
O ne such lo catio n is the
Adventist Medical Center which is
where Nash works with inpatient
and outpatient new mothers and
mothers on a daily basis.
After the donating mothers go
through a screening process, she
drops off her frozen donated breast
milk at one of the collection sites,
which then ships the milk to one of
the milk banks in CalifomiaorColo-
rado.
W infield said, however, once the
lot. milk bank group attains the
proper equipment, they will not have
to ship the milk out of state.
The mother will donate her milk,
and it will be received, pasteurized
and cultured in Portland, she said.
“It will be a much shorter, cheaper
and faster trip for the milk.”
According to Winfield, the North
West Mothers Milk Bank has made
tremendous progress in the past
year, especially with the support
from individuals and community
donors. Last year in September, she
said they raised $30,000 at a
fundraising event, and Providence
Health and Services has provided
new office space.
“We still need funds to purchase
equipment and hire staff,” she said,
“Any donation, no matter how small,
is really going to really help us.”
The organization is looking for
support to attain important pieces
ofequipment, including a milk ana-
lyzer, pasteurizer, a walk-in freezer,
bottle filling system, two commer­
cial freezers, commercial dishwasher,
cap sealer, and an ice maker.
Coming up next month, Winfield
also said the group will be holding
two open houses for the community
to visit its office and lab space tc
take a deeper look into how a milk
bank works and why it is important.
“Babies are meant to drink hu-
man milk,” said Nash. “That is how
they will thrive and be the healthi-
est.”
And Winfield agrees,
“The milk bank is most exciting
for our region because it will im-
prove the health of our community,”
she said. “We all benefit when our
community is healthier.”
For more information about the
Northwest North West Mothers
Milk Bank and other milk banks visit
nwmmb.org.
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