Each year more than 10,000 babies are born prematurely in North Carolina. These fragile newborns need the best possible nutrition to grow and develop into healthy infants. Breast milk has life-saving antibodies that protect preemies, as well as full-term infants, against disease, illness and intestinal infections.
Mother’s milk is best, however, ill premature babies sometimes cannot breastfeed and frequently their mothers are unable to pump enough milk for them. For a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), milk donations can be essential to life.
This is where you come in. WakeMed Mothers’ Milk Bank is a non-profit milk bank that provides safe, pasteurized donor milk to babies in hospital NICUs in North Carolina and all along the east coast – breast milk donated by women like you.
Donor milk is in extremely limited supply. Our top priority for dispensing donor milk is to ensure it goes to those who need it most – infants in neonatal intensive care units.
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WakeMed Mothers’ Milk Bank follows stringent guidelines set forth by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) to ensure the highest level of purity and safety for the fragile infants we serve.
Most moms in good health can donate milk. There are, however, some restrictions that would preclude you from donation. You are not eligible to donate if:
You have a positive blood test result for HIV, HTLV, Hepatitis B or C, or Syphilis
You or your sexual partner are at risk for HIV
You use illegal drugs
You smoke or use nicotine products
You have received an organ or tissue transplant or a blood transfusion in the last four months
You regularly have more than two alcoholic drinks per day
We’d love to talk with you. Here’s what’s involved in our screening process:
Online Questionnaire: link to questionnaire
A Telephone Screen: You’ll be contacted by our Donor Intake Representative to answer a few additional questions about your health and lifestyle.
Paperwork: You’ll then complete the donor packet which consists of a written interview and forms for your physicians to complete.
Blood Work: Once all of your paperwork has been received, we’ll provide you with a requisition number to have blood tests performed at WakeMed or your local LabCorp. We test for Hepatitis B and C, HIV, HTLV, and Syphilis. All testing is done at our expense.
Make your donation: Once we receive your negative blood test results, you will be approved as a donor. We’ll then discuss the final logistics with you about delivering or shipping your milk to us.
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