NORFOLK, Va. — The King’s Daughters Milk Bank at CHKD is a nonprofit, hospital-based donor milk bank established to provide life-saving benefits all through the use of a woman's breast milk.
We spoke to the Director of The King’s Daughters Milk Bank at CHKD to learn about the importance of human breast milk.
"Human milk and breast milk, in general, is life-saving, especially for premature infants. It decreases the risk of disease and illness and also impacts their health through adulthood. For instance, diseases like cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease are less likely to occur to a person who was breastfed as a child. For premature and critically ill infants, it's the difference between life and death," Ashlynn Baker said.
One ounce of a mother's breast milk can treat up to four infants in the NICU and the process of becoming a milk donor isn't a rigorous one, which is ideal for times like these.
The screening process entails a phone interview which takes about 10 to 15 minutes where we do a medical history and lifestyle questionnaire. The second step is an online questionnaire and then the third step is going to the nearest Lab Corp.
Another great aspect of donating is that once you've been authorized to become a donor, you don't even have to leave your house to donate.
"We will arrange and pay for their frozen breast milk to be shipped from a mother's home directly to the milk bank via overnight shipping," Baker said.
For those of you wondering how long breast milk lasts, the answer may surprise you. In a kitchen refrigerator freezer combo at home, that milk is good for up to six months from the pump date.
Mothers interested in donating should call 757-668-MILK (6455), or email KDmilkbank@chkd.org to begin the screening process.
