Business News

Mothers' Milk Bank Montana plans expansion

Posted: Feb 28, 2013 6:12 PM by Lindsey Gordon - MTN News

Breast milk provides valuable nutrients for babies, but not every woman can breast-feed her baby. Reporter Lindsey Gordon looks into Mothers' Milk Bank Montana as it plans to expand and will soon be able to help more mothers and their little ones.

Donating breast milk is sort of like donating blood; advocates say it's just as important to saving lives.

The ideal candidate? Linsey Wiesemann of Mothers' Milk Bank Montana says, "A healthy, non-smoking, lactating woman with extra breast milk."

Sienna Meredith, a donor from Helena, recalled, "I had problems in the beginning breast-feeding and so I kind of overcompensated by pumping a lot and getting my milk production up."

Breast milk lasts six to twelve months when its frozen, so she began stockpiling.

Sienna then realized, "I thought, why not give it to a good cause. There's a lot of reasons moms can't produce milk."

Neo-natal intensive care units are usually the first to receive the donated milk. After that, any baby who really can't tolerate other than a mother's milk and doesn't have access to their own mother's milk, and it can go anywhere around the county.

The milk donated in Missoula currently goes to California to be processed - something that will soon be taking place in Montana, where they will accept, process, and distribute milk more locally.

Visit the Mothers' Milk Bank Montana website to learn more.