Soon families who don’t have access to the breast milk their baby needs won’t have to drive all the way to West Michigan to get it.
On Thursday (March 9), the Henry Ford Health System in Jackson showed off its new facility and took a significant step towards opening its doors to the community.
The milk bank is in the final stages of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. One last step is demonstrating the ability to screen and process milk from five to 10 donors properly.
Some lactation consultants are helping them with that critical accreditation step by volunteering to be their first donors.
The milk bank has been in the works since 2019, and when it opens this spring, it will be only the second in the state.
“Never before has it been, you know, such an important thing to be ensuring that babies are receiving safe human milk,” said Registered Nurse, Lactation Consultant and mother Jackie Keegan.
The recent formula shortage highlighted the need, but it’s something Keegan sees daily as a lactation consultant.
“We see how important donor milk is for families and for premature babies and for sick babies, and to be able to actually see where it’s going to be made for our babies is amazing,” Keegan said.
Keegan isn’t just among the first to step into the milk bank, and she’s also one of the first to participate.
“I feel very privileged to be able to donate some of my own breast milk,” Keegan said.
Milk bank manager Erin McGreal-Miller says they’re looking for more mothers.
“So at this point, we’re still going through accreditation, but we’re at the point where we’re allowed to start testing all the hard work we’ve done with our policies, procedures, or building our equipment,” said McGreal-Miller. “And now we’re ready to start accepting donors.”
The screening process thoroughly ensures the milk is healthy enough for the babies who need it. The goal is to start off with at least 10 donors.
“We would like to open up the milk to recipients in the community and other Henry Ford Hospitals, but just start, we’re going to be providing milk to inpatients here,” McGreal-Miller said. “At Henry Ford Jackson Hospital.”
There are only about 30 other accredited milk banks like the one in Jackson in the United States. The more Metro Detroit women who can donate, the more babies they can help.
To qualify to be a milk donor, a lactating mother must be:
- Generally healthy,
- A non-smoker,
- Make limited use of alcohol,
- Have the approval of their healthcare provider,
- Be willing to donate more than 100 ounces of breastmilk,
- Undergo a screening process similar to that for giving blood and
- Have labs drawn, the cost of which will be covered by the milk bank
“We’re going to do everything we can to make the screening process as seamless as possible for our donors because we so greatly appreciate their generous gift,” McGreal-Miller said.
The milk bank can only accept milk from donors who are willing to travel to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital for screening.
The health system plans to make screening available at Henry Ford Health sites in Southeast Michigan soon.
Visit milkbank@hfhs.org if you’d like to donate.