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World Breastfeeding Month in Review!

What a whirlwind the month of August was as we celebrated World Breastfeeding Month! While we work tirelessly all year long to spread the word about breastfeeding and milk banking, MMBA took full advantage of this dedicated and special month to do even more!

We kicked off the month with a bang thanks to our friends at the local Austin WIC (Women Infants and Children) Clinics—we had the opportunity to attend not one, but TEN Prenatal and Breastfeeding fairs that they were hosting! What a great chance for us to meet with new moms and tell them more about how to become a milk donor.

Speaking of WIC—our Outreach Coordinator, Kara White, attended the annual Breastfeeding Reception hosted by one of our WIC depot locations in Bryan/College Station. They were so excited to hear that mothers from their community have provided over 36,000 meals for premature babies! We also officially opened a new milk collection site at Mom’s Place Breastfeeding Clinic at the North Austin WIC office which will be a great resource for more of our donor moms. The WIC program promotes breastfeeding and provides ideal milk collection sites for those women with extra milk.

Mid-month, we were honored to co-sponsor the Central Texas Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies event: “Breastfeeding: Mother Nature’s Masterpiece Art Show”. This was a 2-day event that consisted of a fundraising dinner and art auction, followed by a family-friendly community event with live music, snacks and giveaways. What a fabulous party! And as a bonus, the winning piece of art, painted by local doula Natasha Triplett is now prominently on display in the milk bank lobby.


We had so much fun at a variety of other events, including stops in Lampasas for a Breastfeeding Reception, hosting a Back to School Health Fair, attending a Baby Fair at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, as well as a fun day at Blooming Pregnancy Spa & Imaging Center’s 1 year anniversary Birthday Bash! However, one of the real highlights of the month for us was welcoming the Milk for Thought’s Latch On America tour to Austin!

Milk for Thought’s goal is to work collaboratively to empower pregnant and breastfeeding moms by connecting them to local experts and counselors, baby-friendly hospitals and birthing centers, support groups, and other mothers who are out there and want so much to help. Thanks to the milk bank’s public relations firm, Momentum PR, Austin was picked among 30+ cities to be included in the tour. We co-hosted a community gathering at Zilker Park and then brought the Milk for Thought crew to the milk bank for a private tour and lunch. Milk for Thought is creating a documentary of their experiences. We are hopeful that some of the extensive on-camera interviews with our Executive Director, Kim Updegrove, will be included in the documentary to highlight the importance of milk banking in all communities!

What an incredible month it was for raising awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding, and we are so thankful to have had so many opportunities to connect with people in our community. We hope that these efforts will help further our mission to save the lives of premature and fragile babies through the use of safe and effective donor human milk!

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