NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A breastmilk donation depot will be established in the Four Corners area later this spring. The depot will take donations from moms who have excess breastmilk to provide to vulnerable infants in need. The Human Milk Repository of New Mexico (HMRNM) is partnering with the San Juan Regional Medical Center to make this possible.
Donor breastmilk can be life-saving when a mother does not have enough of her own to feed a baby. According to the HMRNM, when premature infants are fed formula too early, they have the potential to contract an illness called necrotizing enterocolitis, which can be fatal.
The repository says, “Donated milk is screened, pasteurized, and distributed to hospitals’ neonatal intensive care units (NICU), labor and delivery units, and also on an outpatient basis if after meeting hospital needs, additional donor breastmilk is available.” NICU infants in the Albuquerque area will benefit from the donated breastmilk as well as those in the San Juan Regional Medical Center, according to the HMRNM.
For more information regarding breastmilk donation, visit the HMRNM’s website.
