Second Depot in Arlington Opens

Monday, 5/20/2019

Mothers who donate their extra breastmilk to Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas can now drop it off at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, making donation convenient for Arlington moms.

Donors can deliver their frozen breastmilk to the Newborn Services Office on the second floor of the hospital, located at 800 W. Randol Mill Road. Staff at the depot accept donations between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm on weekdays, and between 8:00 am and noon on weekends. They will securely store the milk before sending it to MMBNT in Fort Worth.

“As women’s and children’s health nurses, we understand the importance of breastmilk to the health of the baby and the mother,” Kathleen Harlow, Manager of Labor/Delivery, Postpartum and Newborn Nursery units, said. “We are thrilled that we are able to bridge the gap in Arlington for women who want to donate excess breastmilk for our smallest patients across the state of Texas.”

MMBNT collects donor human milk from more than 40 collection sites, or depots, throughout North Texas and surrounding areas. Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital is the second depot in Arlington and one of eight depots in Tarrant County.

Milk donors store the extra breastmilk their own babies don’t need and donate it to the nonprofit, which tests, pasteurizes and dispenses donor human milk for fragile and critically ill infants without access to their mothers’ own milk.

MMBNT staff screen all potential milk donors through medical histories and blood tests and only process a donor’s milk once staff have approved the donor. Milk processing includes thawing, nutritional analysis, pasteurization and bacterial testing to ensure safety.

Donor human milk is the standard of care for premature infants without access to their mothers’ own milk 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 babies at home.

Those who are interested in becoming milk donors can start the process by calling MMBNT at (817) 810-0071. To contact the depot at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, call (817) 960-6333.