First Depot in the State of Georgia Opens
Thursday, 3/31/2016
Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas (MMBNT) and North Georgia Breastfeeding Center (NGBC)established a new milk depot within NGBC, located at 107 Colony Park Drive #700 in Cumming, Georgia, to provide a convenient drop off location for donor breastmilk. Cumming is approximately 35 miles north of Atlanta.
Mothers can drop off their human milk donations at NGBC, which will be collected by staff and sent to MMBNT for pasteurization and shipment to critically ill infants. Donations are accepted Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., or by appointment by calling 678-965-0103. This is the first milk depot in the state of Georgia.
“It is with great honor and privilege that North Georgia Breastfeeding Center will have the opportunity to work with our surrounding communities to help facilitate donated breastmilk to save the lives of medically needy babies,” Amy Hammant, Clinical Director of NGBC, said. She adds, “As IBCLCs [lactation consultants], we are committed to the promotion, support and protection of breastfeeding. Breastmilk is nature’s first food and we are thrilled to be able to help provide this precious gift.”
MMBNT collects donor milk from over 40 “depots” located in communities throughout North Texas and other states. Donors are screened through medical histories and blood tests. Once approved, moms freeze the extra milk their babies don’t need and take it to a depot close to home.
Frozen milk arrives at the milk bank and is logged into a sophisticated barcode and tracking system. It is then thawed, analyzed, packaged in tamper-resistant bottles, pasteurized and tested for bacteria.
Donor milk has become the standard of care for premature infants who have severe feeding problems, intestinal malformations and life threatening complications such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Eighty percent of MMBNT’s donor milk is dispensed by physician prescription to over 110 hospital NICUs. Twenty percent is dispensed by physician prescription to medically needy babies at home. In 2015, MMBNT dispensed a record 552,761 ounces.
