NC’s only milk bank appeals for donors to help premature babies survive

JC Morlu knows what it’s like to struggle to breastfeed a newborn baby as a new mother.

When her first child was born five years ago, Morlu quickly learned that nursing doesn’t always come naturally or as comfortably for moms and their babies. After about six months of trying, she had a bottle-fed infant and an over-supply of pumped breast milk in her freezer.

“I was blessed with supply with my first daughter,” Morlu said. “And I thought, there’s got to be something to do with all this extra milk.”

Morlu found that the WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank in Cary accepted donated milk for other mothers who couldn’t provide enough milk and for babies who were sick or born prematurely. Her donation and volunteer journey began.

To date, Morlu, now a Raleigh resident, has donated over 100 gallons of milk over the first year of her second daughter’s life to the hospital, helping thousands of babies.

The benefits of breastmilk

While all infants benefit from mother’s milk, the need is particularly great for babies who are born prematurely, or before they reach full term at 37 weeks in utero. Breast milk provides antibodies against infection, disease and illnesses like necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, a gastrointestinal illness that causes death.

Often, premature babies can’t nurse and their mothers, many who have experienced birth complications, can’t provide enough milk for them. They rely on the compassion and selflessness of milk donors who supply milk for free, without anything in return.

“The only people who can help are those who can help,” Morlu said. “If you have the opportunity to give as you can, you should,” Morlu said.

Over 10,000 babies are born prematurely each year in North Carolina, and the milk bank is the only facility in the state that provides safe, pasteurized donated milk to babies and mothers. Each year, it dispenses nearly 250,000 ounces of milk to hospital NICUs throughout North Carolina and the Southeast region.

More milk donors needed

The Mother’s Milk Bank is one of only 33 banks in North America and has 210 donors, some from as far as Georgia, Ohio, Maryland and Florida. The number fluctuates as mothers stop breastfeeding and some donors only give once.

To consistently meet the need for donor breast milk, the bank needs between 200 and 300 donors, said Kerrie Gottschall, the milk bank’s manager.

WakeMed has been storing and shipping donated breast milk since 1985 when it became a founding member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. The organization dispenses about 10 million ounces of breast milk throughout North America.

“Our goal right now is for each state to have a milk bank,” Gottshall said.

Most mothers are good candidates for milk donations, even though many don’t know that they can donate their extra milk.

Word of mouth helps increase donor participation and raise awareness about the importance of donations for premature babies. Gottschall said some bereaved mothers who have lost an infant donate milk as a way to heal.

As a nonprofit, the milk bank can’t pay donors.

“All of the donors are giving (milk) as a gift from their heart to help other babies,” Gottschall said. “We tell them all the time, this is life-sustaining nutrition. When you’re taking care of a baby less than a pound and their mothers are sick and incubated, this really does allow them to continue to live.”

Donors go through a thorough screening before giving milk to check for alcohol use, medications used, any risk of exposure to HIV and sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis, which is rising in Wake County and North Carolina.

Inside the Mother’s Milk Bank, there is a room where the donated milk is pasteurized and homogenized, which is about a four-hour process involving heating for 30 minutes to kill bacteria. The milk is tested for safety, cooled and then frozen at -3 degrees Fahrenheit. The milk is labeled and tracked in case of a recall.

Milk Donation Day event

May 19 is World Human Milk Donation Day to celebrate all the people who donate milk to babies and their families.

The Mother’s Milk Bank is hosting a donor drive event at WakeMed Cary to screen potential donors and educate people about the importance of milk donations.

The event is from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at 1900 Kildaire Farm Road.

“It takes a village. Everyone needs help in the beginning, this is like showing up with a casserole or washing the dishes,” Morlu said. “You might not be able to do that for every mom, but for the moms you can help with the donations, it’s even better.”

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