Rockford's Independent Newspaper

SwedishAmerican opens human milk depot in Rockford

Staff Report

ROCKFORD – SwedishAmerican will host a grand opening of its first human milk depot at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10,  at the hospital, 1401 E. State St.

The milk deport is part of a partnership between SwedishAmerican and Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes, which benefits babies throughout Illinois and Wisconsin.

Pasteurized donor human milk is an important nutritional therapy for many at-risk Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) babies, as it provides numerous benefits in the absence of the mother’s milk, including infection-fighting factors, active growth and development hormones, improved digestion and ideal nutrition.

While SwedishAmerican supports breastfeeding whenever possible, donor milk can be used when the mother has a low milk supply, is ill or on certain medications, or in cases of adoption or surrogacy.

“Breast milk is of the utmost importance to our smallest babies, as it gives them immunity, gut protection, and so many more advantages,” said Jan Southard, manager of the mother/baby unit at SwedishAmerican Hospital. “SwedishAmerican is proud to partner with Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes, as this will offer a wonderful option to our patients in need of supplemental breast milk.”

The milk depot at SwedishAmerican will collect human milk donations from healthy, lactating women who are approved donors through Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes. The donations are then sent to the milk bank, where they are pasteurized to eliminate any viruses and bacteria. After pasteurization, the milk is tested once again for safety and distributed to hospitals.

“Rigorous safety protocols ensure that pasteurized donor human milk is safe when it’s provided from a milk bank that adheres to guidelines from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America,” said Summer Kelly, Executive Director of Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes.

Potential donors are blood tested and thoroughly screened for communicable diseases, activities that increase the risk of blood borne diseases, and the use of tobacco, alcohol, and medications,  Kelly added. Milk collected from SwedishAmerican’s milk depot will help support the complex nutritional needs of sick and premature babies in Illinois and Wisconsin.

SwedishAmerican and Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes will hold a grand opening for the
milk bank on Tuesday, December 10 at 10 a.m. on the eighth floor of SwedishAmerican Hospital, 1401 E. State St. Rockford.

More information about Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes is at milkbankwgl.org or hmbana.org.

404 Not Found

404 Not Found


nginx/1.18.0