Mothers Milk Bank of Alabama

Many new mothers who would like to provide breast milk for their babies, but can’t because of hers or the baby’s medical issues have a resource in Birmingham – Mothers Milk Bank of Alabama.

The milk bank is the first non-profit milk bank in the state. It collects, processes and distributes excess human breast milk to provide necessary nutrients to babies in need and sick or premature infants, or to help moms who can’t supply their own milk because of stress, medications or other complications.

The bank only sells directly to hospitals, or on an outpatient basis with a doctor’s prescription, says Katherine Wood, milk bank program director.

Breast milk is especially needed in hospitals to help boost the health of babies who suffer from several complications, such as renal failure, premature infants born with less than 32 weeks gestation, allergies or infective diseases, infants with formula intolerance or metabolism errors, immunity deficiency, intestinal malformations and more. And, once home, some babies have feeding intolerance or failure to thrive, and can benefit from breast milk.

“There are some situations where the mother cannot provide milk, or the supply is not enough to feed the baby,” Wood says. “Some babies are born premature and the mother’s milk has not come in. We are able to provide based on medical need.”

The bank is housed in the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, where it began accepting donations as a collection depot for the Mothers Milk Bank of North Texas. After a year, it now screens and collects breast milk donations from Birmingham and greater Alabama mothers, and in November 2015, it sent out the first breast milk pasteurized in Alabama. It is a member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.

The bank currently has more than 60 donors. Moms who want to donate excess breast milk can contact the milk bank for a health history and blood work – tests that the bank pays for, Wood says. Then, moms deliver the milk to the bank, where it is tested, pasteurized and stored in a freezer until it is delivered.

Moms who do donate breast milk usually do so because they have extra milk to donate, have lost a baby and may want to donate milk, or have a baby who will not take breast milk from a bottle, Wood says.

For more information, call Wood at 205-942-8911 x117, email her at kwood@mmbal.org or go to http://www.mmbal.org.