Courtesy of The Times of Northwest Indiana
Women can donate their leftover breast milk at the Region’s first-ever breast milk donation drive Tuesday in Merrillville.
The Milk Bank and Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus are co-hosting the event, which will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Classroom 2 (basement level) of the hospital at 8701 Broadway.
Women who are currently or have recently finished lactating are encouraged to donate their stored, surplus milk (up to six months old), which will go to to care for ill and fragile infants around the area. Donors will be asked to fill out a medical history form and complete a quick blood draw to determine the best use of their donated milk.
“There is always a need for breast milk donations, as our demand for ‘liquid gold’ from (neonatal intensive care units) around the Midwest continues to grow,” said Leah Shattuck, a spokeswoman for The Milk Bank, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that receives human milk, then pasterizues, freezes and distributes it across the United States.
Ideal candidates for milk donors are nonsmoking women in good general health who take limited or no medications or herbal supplements. To speed up the donation process, attendees are encouraged to conduct a pre-event phone screening and/or bring a list of medications and health care provider information. For clarification on eligibility, contact The Milk Bank at 877-829-7470 or visit themilkbank.org/donate-milk.
