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Showing posts from February, 2019

Guest Post: Milk is More Than Food

The Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin's mission is to save lives by providing prescribed, pasteurized donor human milk. Supporting breastfeeding is an important component of this mission, and in recognition of the need for education, MMBA commits to teaching more than 75 students annually. Some of these students are already physicians, dietitians, lactation consultants and nurses, some are studying to become health care providers, and some, as in this past week's group, are young students yet to choose a career path. We trust that learning about the power of breastfeeding and human milk to improve health and survival, and the role of the milk bank industry in supporting those outcomes especially among the babies born too soon, too small, and too sick, is life changing. Minimally, knowing that human milk saves babies' lives should lead to a greater appreciation and advocacy effort for breastfeeding. MMBA believes that creating an informed community benefits everyone. In Feb

A Miracle of Life: Zayed

Baby Zayed was born at 35 weeks gestation weighing only 3.12 pounds, with a cleft lip and palate and a cardiac defect. He spent 13 months in several hospitals, but multiple surgeries later he is sweet, smart, and loves his big brother Yazid. Even after surgery eating was difficult for Zayed, and he has many food allergies, so donor human milk and his mom’s expressed breastmilk continued to be his only source of nutrition for over 18 months. Zayed’s mom calls him her miracle baby! The Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin provides thousands of children just like Zayed with donor human milk, given compassionately by healthy lactating mothers who express milk beyond their own needs and donate it to help babies born too small, too soon, and too sick. This past year more than 1,100 mamas chose to donate milk, and more than 775,000 ounces of milk were dispensed to babies. Generous community members gave more than $225,000 to support our mission to save lives through the provision of p