Local milk bank needs more donors to help save hospitalized infants
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A milk bank based out of WakeMed in Raleigh is helping newborns across the state and all along the East Coast, but they need more donors to keep up with the demand. It's a unique service that recently helped one Wake County couple.
For Adam and Caitlin Bram, their twin boys Leo James and Maxwell Joseph were a blessing that came much earlier than expected. Because they were born at just 31 weeks the boys were taken to Raleigh WakeMed's Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to address a variety of concerns.
"Lung development, brain development, the weight was definitely a big fear for us, and just how they were going to breathe and just make it at first," shared new dad Adam Bram.
Thankfully, the boys have been responding well, thanks in part to donated breast milk. It's actually a common practice in NICU's across the country.
"Some mothers have a difficulty producing enough milk in the first few days after birth, and we help them with that transition. Many times mothers deliver twins or other multiples and they have trouble keeping up with the number of babies," explains WakeMed Neonatologist Thomas Young, M.D.
And simply getting access to mother's milk, even if it's not from their own mothers, can not only boost babies' immune systems and help them recover, in some cases it can also be the difference between life and death.
"We know that mother's milk significantly decreases the risk of something called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) which is a very severe intestinal problem that premature babies get and really no one else gets," said Dr. Young.
As for where the milk comes from, it's actually provided by a milk bank located right inside WakeMed. However, the need for donor milk has been increasing, and they are struggling to keep up with the demand.
"We process about 20,000 ounces every month and we're constantly being called by hospitals within our region requesting more and more milk. We're able to supply them intermittently with what they need but they want more than what we have so we've had to ration it if you will," says Bonnie Gustavison, director of Women's and Children's Services.
Anyone who meets some basic health requirements can donate; babies don't have to have milk from only their mother or another blood relative. It's similar to getting blood from a blood bank, and just as there are strict safety precautions followed with those donations, the same happens here.
Women who are interested first answer some surveys and undergo a blood test, and if deemed suitable they can simply mail out their extra breast milk at no cost to them. From there the frozen samples arrive in coolers at WakeMed where they are sorted, pasteurized, and thoroughly tested.
As for the types of women who donate, it varies for a number of reasons.
"Anyone who has extra milk," Gustavison explains. "A lot of times mothers are breastfeeding and have an overabundance so they pump off an extra few ounces each and every feed."
She says these they call these types of moms "super producers." Then there are moms who have frozen their breast milk but either decide they no longer need that, or perhaps are moving and can't transport all of their extra bags or bottles. And then there are those donors who give for an entirely different reason.
"We have had mothers who have experienced loss, and it's their way of paying forward so they continue to donate breast milk, so that's very powerful," Gustavison shared. And she says in those cases, it's been a healing process for those women.
But regardless of the reason why women decide to donate, it is crucial to the babies relying on it, and it's much-appreciated by their parents.
"[It's] wonderful, wonderful. I think it's a great cause that mothers who have extra breast milk, just like giving blood, you're helping out someone you don't know, a complete stranger," explained Adam Bram, while his wife cradled one of his son's behind him.
If you're a mother with a surplus of breast milk or an expectant mother who might be interested, click HERE for more information.
