GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A Green Bay hospital is now home to the area’s first breast milk dispensary. HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center on Shawano Ave. is now accepting breast milk donations.
The dispensary, located in the Women and Infants Center of the hospital, offers pasteurized donor breast milk to hospitalized infants and for the public to purchase.
“There are a variety of reasons mothers and caretakers in our hospitals and surrounding communities may need our dispensary services,” said Amber Chibuk, Director of Women and Infants Services for HSHS – Eastern Wisconsin Division.
“They may struggle from low breast milk production, they may be experiencing an illness or taking a medication that is hindering their ability to breastfeed, or they may have had a child through adoption or surrogacy. We are here to compassionately meet those needs and provide a service that, until now, was not available in Northeast Wisconsin.”
All of the breast milk provided by the dispensary is tested and pasteurized by Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes, based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
Those wishing to donate breast milk must be pre-screened by the organization.
“Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes adheres to rigorous safety protocols and guidelines from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA),” said Summer Kelly, Executive Director at Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes.
“Potential donors are blood tested and thoroughly screened for communicable diseases, activities that increase the risk of blood-borne diseases, and the use of tobacco, alcohol, and medications.”
HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center is the third pasteurized donor breast milk dispensary to open in the state of Wisconsin. Other dispensaries are located in Madison and Brookfield.
For more information on how to donate or purchase breast milk from the dispensary, click here
