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Henry Ford Jackson Hospital has opened a new milk bank. Only the second of its kind in Michigan, the nonprofit facility stores pasteurized donor human milk to distribute to mothers who are unable to breastfeed.
Henry Ford Health was awarded a grant from the Jackson Community Foundation's Community Needs Endowment Fund in 2019 to initiate the milk bank. U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow secured $700,000 in federal funding to support the program.
Milk bank manager Erin McGreal-Miller says community members have been grateful to have access to the milk bank.
“We’re clearly seeing that there is a need both for people that have ... extra milk," McGreal-Miller said. "They want a place to give it and share it and also for people who would like to access that extra milk and know that it’s a safe alternative for their baby.”
To donate, participants should obtain approval from their healthcare provider. They also need to be non-smokers who consume minimal amounts of alcohol. Donors must be willing to donate a minimum of 100 ounces of breastmilk.
Donors do not receive compensation and must go through a screening process. The hospital says it plans to make donor milk available to other Henry Ford hospitals once its supply volume grows.