Michigan's second breast milk bank now open

JACKSON, Mich. (FOX 2) - Michigan's second milk bank is officially open for business, offering mothers another place to retrieve safe breast milk in the state.

The bank opened within the Henry Ford Jackson Hospital after it completed an accreditation process through the milk bank association. It's the 30th milk bank to open in the U.S. and the eighth to be associated with a hospital, the health system said.

Expanding access to healthy breast milk will reduce disparities among mothers in the state and provide a key lifeline in the case of a shortage of baby formula. 

The milk will first be available to inpatient infants within the hospital. The city of Jackson was selected as the second site due to the need for donor human breast milk. Outpatients will be eligible for milk after they get a prescription - however, the donations won't be available until the bank builds up its donor base, the hospital said. 

The first milk bank opened in Kalamazoo. 

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The facility opened after a grant from the Jackson Community Foundation’s Community Needs Endowment Fund and $700,000 in federal government funding. 

"The milk bank is so important for promoting breastfeeding and improving infant health in our community. As we open our doors, we expand the potential to reduce social disparities and decrease overall health care costs by increasing access to breast milk for those in need," said Emily Moorhead, President of Henry Ford Jackson Hospital. 

Donor breast milk is the best option for babies when a mother can't breastfeed herself. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics say it's the best alternative.

Breast milk has short and long-term health benefits and has been associated with a reduction in sudden infant death syndrome. It also helps with hormone production and growth.

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Breast milk availability became a key issue in the months after one of America's only baby formula factories was forced to shut down for months, causing a shortage and prompting families to seek food for their infants elsewhere. 

Donor mothers are now sought to help keep the bank stocked. To qualify to be a donor, a lactating mother must be generally healthy, a non-smoker, consume limited amounts of alcohol, have approval of a health care provider, be willing to donate at least 100 oz of breast milk, and undergo a screening process. 

Learn more at henryford.com/milkbank