When Mary Jane gave birth to her baby, she hemorrhaged, which drastically impacted her overall health post-birth. A few days after coming home from the hospital, Mary Jane noticed her baby was not meeting their wet and dirty diaper goals.
Worried about her milk supply, she turned to the Milk Express site at Community Health South to access Pasteurized Donor Human Milk for her baby. This short-term bridge milk access provided Mary Jane, an IBCLC and Registered Dietician, peace of mind knowing that her baby would still be on a 100% breast milk diet.
“One of the ways that I was able to protect my baby from infection was through providing an exclusive breast milk diet,” shared Mary Jane. “I’m so grateful because my husband was able to drive ten minutes to Community South, pick up some donor milk, and I felt so encouraged that I was still able to exclusively breastfeed my baby.”
The safe donor milk Mary Jane accessed was made possible by milk donors just like Grace, who uses the Milk Depot at Community Health Network North to drop-off her donations of breast milk for The Milk Bank. “I was just thrilled to be able to fill these really immediate, emotional, and visceral needs of these moms and babies who are struggling with so much else,” said Grace.
Thanks to The Milk Bank’s partnership with Community Health Network, we’re able to share stories like Mary Jane and Grace’s. From hosting Milk Depots and Milk Express sites, to offering Pasteurized Donor Human Milk to inpatients, Community Health Network’s partnership with The Milk Bank is improving the health of infants, mothers, and families across Indiana.
Find a Milk Express near you to access pasteurized donor human milk.
Have milk to donate? Start the process today by filling out our short milk donor interest form.
Curious if there’s a Milk Depot near you? Find out by using out interactive Milk Depot map!
