On September 21,2016 The New York Milk Bank, a nonprofit in Westchester County, NY, USA, opened as the first and only comprehensive, community based milk bank in New York State.
This venture was started by a volunteer group of lactation professionals who recognized the need to make donor milk available to babies in need in the State of New York.
The executive director of the milk bank, Julie Bouchet-Horowitz, FNP, IBCLC agree to be an honored guest on the All About Breastfeeding podcast. You can find a link to her interview here. The following information is from the NY Milk Banks website, which is www.nymilkbank.org
Four Easy Steps to Becoming a Milk Donor
- Call us for a 10-minute health screening over the phone at 212.956.MILK (6455)
- Fill out the health and lifestyle questions, consent forms and medical releases we send you.
- Have your blood drawn for a free blood test.
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Donate your Milk: Take it to a local drop off location or ship it (free of charge).
Who Can Donate Milk?
Milk donors are screened for health concerns and communicable disease.
Our donors meet the following basic requirements:
- In good health and able to breastfeed, with a surplus of milk.
- No use of nicotine products or regular use of milk enhancing herbs.
- Minimal use of medications. Call and we’ll help determine whether a medication is safe for milk donation.
- Willing to undergo a thorough health history screening and get a free blood test for communicable diseases.
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Able to donate at least 150 ounces of milk, unless you are a bereaved mother, in which case we will gladly accept any size donation.
These conditions prevent a mother from donating milk:
- Testing positive for HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), HTLV (Human T-lymphocytic Virus), Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or Syphilis.
- You or your sexual partner is at risk for HIV.
- Use of illegal drugs.
- Use of any tobacco products.
- Received a blood transfusion or an organ or tissue transplant in the last 12 months.
- Consumes more than 2 ounces of alcohol per day.
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Visited the United Kingdom, France or Saudi Arabia for more than 3 months or Europe for more than 5 years since 1980.
Why donate to a non-profit milk bank?
The New York Milk Bank is a non-profit milk bank that adheres to the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) guidelines to provide safe pasteurized milk from carefully screened donors to New York’s fragile and sick infants, thus improving their potential to survive and thrive. Accessibility of human milk is limited, so non-profit milk banks such as ours make sure that it is dispensed to those who need it the most.
