Brooklyn Birthing Center recently partnered with Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast (MMBNE) in order to establish the first MMBNE breast milk donation depot in New York City. In celebration of this innovative partnership, Brooklyn Birthing Center and Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast will hold a special ribbon cutting event at Brooklyn Birthing Center on Wednesday, October 28th, at 12 PM. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will be in attendance as the guest of honor. Other guests will include representatives from Brooklyn Birthing Center and Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, midwives, lactation consultants, and local La Leche League members.
Brooklyn Birthing Center is the only freestanding birthing facility in the New York metro area. Brooklyn Birthing Center’s staff includes International Board Certified Lactation Consultants, who help mothers and babies to establish and maintain breastfeeding. Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast is a non-profit milk bank that provides prescreened, pasteurized human donor milk to premature and sick infants whose mothers do not have enough milk.
Donor milk can be lifesaving for preterm infants. It is especially protective against a lifethreatening condition called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which affects one in ten of the smallest preterm infants. Donor breast milk is estimated to lower the risk of this condition by 79%. It also lowers hospital costs by reducing costs for care and shortening hospital stays.
Donor milk is rapidly becoming the standard supplement to mothers’ milk for preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). This has led to greater demand for safe donor milk from nonprofit milk banks like Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast. In New York City, Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast provides milk to three major hospitals— Maimonides Medical Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, and Bellevue Hospital Center. Since 2012, nearly 350 New York mothers have donated milk to MMBNE, including many from Brooklyn.
Phone: (718) 336-4119
Fax: (718) 336-4113
Address: 2183 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11229
The new donation depot will make it easier than ever for Brooklyn-area mothers to provide the lifesaving gift of donor milk.
“We are so honored to be part of this amazing program. Donor milk saves the lives of the most fragile of humans, and we applaud all of the wonderful women who so generously donate,” commented Adina Lerer, RN, IBCLC, Director of Lactation Services at Brooklyn Birthing Center. “We are thrilled that we have the opportunity to collect milk from the women of Brooklyn and pass it along to protect our babies. Thank you, Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, for allowing us to be part of this process.”
Naomi Bar-Yam, Ph.D., Executive Director of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, remarked, “We encourage mothers who have milk to share to consider donating it. The presence of a milk depot in Brooklyn will increase awareness of the importance of breastfeeding and donating milk. Donor mothers find the experience of donating very special, and we hope that the depot will provide an opportunity for mothers to network with one another about this unique, lifesaving gift.”
Mothers who wish to donate milk can review guidelines on the milk bank website, www.milkbankne.org/donate, then contact a Donor Intake Coordinator for screening at 212-993-1566 or donate@milkbank.org . Approved donors can then arrange to drop off milk at the new depot by e-mailing Rachel Anne Libon at rachelanne@brooklynbirthingcenter.com .
