Mothers' Milk Bank Austin

Meet donor recipient baby Camila.   She was born full term at 6lbs. 13 oz. but, just after her cord was cut, she was immediately whisked away from her family by the doctors.  After 6 hours and multiple doctor examinations and opinions, Camila was diagnosed with a very rare condition called Total Anomalous Pulmonary Vein Connection, a congenital defect of the pulmonary veins , and needed immediate open heart surgery. Her lungs were filling up with fluid and her kidneys, liver, spleen, and stomach were being damaged.  It was recommended that she go to a hospital in Dallas or Houston but, with flooding in Houston and tornadoes in Dallas, they had no choice but to transport her by helicopter to Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin.  Every second counted and the doctors didn’t expect her to live.  After she arrived in Austin and doctors repaired her heart, her chest had to be left open for 10 days to ensure that her heart and lungs were functioning properly. Camila’s mother,

I'm a teacher and I got lucky enough to give birth to that perfectly timed “late-spring teacher baby” (summer break=extended maternity leave!) I heard from a lot of friends who struggled to keep their milk supply going once the school year started, so I did everything I could to boost mine over the summer—I started pumping and hand expressing weeks before I went back to work. Well, when the school year started, I found out I'd done a little too good a job. The baby didn't like the bottle much, so he would nurse all night and all weekend (thus further boosting my supply) but take very little during the day. I had a great freezer stash but never touched it—most days I was freezing ten or twelve ounces more than he was drinking. After a few weeks of hoarding, I was running out of freezer space. That was when I heard about Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin. I could see my own baby growing and thriving on mama's milk, and it seemed like a profound blessing to be able to share

2016 HMBANA Conference: Learning About the Science of Milk Banking By Julia Weatherby Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin Board of Directors Did you know there is so much research and science specific to milk banking that there is an entire conference devoted to it? Every two years, the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) hosts an international conference on donor human milk and milk banking. This year, the two-day conference was held in Orlando, Florida. Five people from the Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin attended, including myself. I was attending for the first time. Other attendees and speakers included people from other milk banks, researchers, neonatologists, and other experts in nutrition, lactation and health. While the conference was only two days long, it was packed full of educational and inspiring presentations. The conference had scientific presentations, as well as talks about social and public policy issues. We heard about the status of milk b

Sarah Marsh, University of Texas intern I came to the Mother’s Milk Bank at Austin as a student intern and the mother of a then 10-month-old boy. Although I had known about the existence and importance of human milk banks in my professional life (I’m a nurse and a midwife), it wasn’t until I started breastfeeding my own baby (and experienced the triumphs, and the challenges) that I became more curious about milk donation and learning more about how human milk banks work. Although milk donation wasn’t an option for me, I met many new mothers in my community who became donors, and was inspired to learn more. The focus of my work at MMBA has been on learning more about the personal characteristics and factors that motivate milk donors. I knew very little about MMBA and its wide network of donors and supporters before I started my internship and have learned so much. In 2014 and 2015, 1723 milk donors from all over the country (29 states and DC) donated their milk to