Making Donation Convenient for Abilene Moms
Thursday, 6/2/2016
Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas (MMBNT) and Abilene Regional Medical Center have established a new human milk depot on the hospital’s 3rd floor mother/baby unit. Mothers can conveniently drop off frozen breastmilk donations on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-2 p.m.
Abilene Regional Medical Center is located at 6250 Highway 83/84, approximately 175 miles west of Dallas/Fort Worth.
“We are thrilled to accommodate the generous mothers who are donating the extra milk their own babies don’t need,” Brittany Thompson, Clinical Educator for Women’s and Children’s Services, said. “We will safely store frozen donations before pasteurization and delivery to premature and fragile infants.”
Mothers who are interested in becoming donors can start the process by calling MMBNT’s toll-free number, 1.866.810.0071. For questions about the depot at Abilene Regional Medical Center, call 325-428-2416.
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.
About Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas
Located in Fort Worth’s medical district, Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas (MMBNT) is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 to provide premature and critically ill infants with donor human milk when their own mother’s milk is not available. Thanks to the generous donations from more than 5,500 mothers, over 2.5 million ounces of donated breastmilk have been dispensed to the babies who need it most. To donate breastmilk, please email moms@texasmilkbank.org or call 817.810.0071 or toll-free 1.866.810.0071. Learn more about milk banking at http://www.texasmilkbank.org.
