Milk bank opens in Fort Smith
FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Fort Smith Baptist Health has officially opened its doors to the Milk Depot, a milk bank that will help support babies across the state.
UAMS Milk Bank has partnered with Baptist Health to make this possible.
Breast milk that is donated at the UAMS Milk Bank will go through screening, pasteurization and nutritional analysis before it is sent out, a news release states.
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“It’s proven that breast milk provides babies with ideal nutrition to support growth and development, as well as reduces their risk of both long-term and short-term illnesses,” said Jeff Carrier, FACHE, president of the Baptist Health Western Region. “We focus heavily on supporting mothers who choose to breastfeed with both inpatient and outpatient lactation services, so partnering with UAMS Milk Bank is just one more way we can support moms and babies across the state.”
The news release stated that before Arkansas hospitals spent more than $1 million a year on donor milk purchased from milk banks in Texas, Michigan, Illinois and Oklahoma.
The new milk bank will help “sick and vulnerable infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) around the state, shortening the time it takes for regional hospitals to receive critical milk supplies and improving outcomes for babies,” the release states.
The Fort Smith Baptist Health Milk Depot is located at 1500 Dodson Ave., Suite 140, in Fort Smith, and is open from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
More information about how to donate milk to the UAMS Milk Bank can be found online. Donors can also contact the Milk Bank, at 501-686-5355 or email milkbank@uams.edu.
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