Women donate to breast milk banks to help other babies
Related: Babies, banks, breast milk, donate, women
When both of her sons were born prematurely, Keely Shaw wanted to feed them breast milk to bulk them up. Good idea, but the problem was that her body wasn’t making enough milk. So she turned to a nationwide system that collects donated milk from nursing mothers and distributes it to babies in need.
And she got the milk that she needed. Shaw’s two boys received milk donated through the Mothers’ Milk Bank at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver until she could provide enough of her own.
“I think it must be similar to what people who receive donated blood must feel,” Shaw says. “This kind of gift is so personal and can be monumental for those who receive it.”
It helps that doctors are waking up to the fact that breast milk is the best food for babies, especially hospitalized preemies struggling to gain weight. And the demand for milk donations is increasing. The amount of donated milk distributed by the 10 banks of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America is growing fast but is still far below what’s needed.
Last Updated on April 7th, 2010
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