Newest Depot Opens in Nacogdoches

Tuesday, 6/13/2017

Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas (MMBNT) opened its newest breastmilk donation site at Nacogdoches Women’s Services, located at 623 Russell Blvd., to make milk donation convenient for East Texas moms.

Mothers who want to donate their excess breastmilk can drop off their donations at Nacogdoches Women’s Services, where staff will securely store the milk before sending it to MMBNT in Fort Worth for pasteurization and shipment to critically ill infants. Donations are accepted Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon.

“We are honored to have the opportunity to work with our community to help facilitate donated breastmilk to save the lives of medically fragile babies,” Marcia Nelson, Director of Nacogdoches Women’s Services, said.

MMBNT collects donor human milk from more than 40 donation sites, or depots, throughout North Texas and surrounding states. Nacogdoches Women’s Services is the first depot in the Nacogdoches area and the third in East Texas.

Milk bank staff screen all potential milk donors through medical histories and blood tests. Once approved, donors freeze the extra milk their own babies don’t need and take it to a depot close to home.

When milk arrives at MMBNT, staff log it into a computer barcode and tracking system. It then undergoes processing, which includes thawing, nutritional analysis, pasteurization and bacterial testing.

Donor human milk is 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 serves babies in hospital NICUs, while 20 percent serves medically needy babies at home.

Those who are interested in becoming donors can start the process by calling MMBNT’s toll-free number, 1-866-810-0071. For more information about Nacogdoches Women’s Services, call 936-305-5277.