Mothers' Milk Available at Phelps Hospital

The following is an announcement from Phelps Memorial Hospital Center:

has recently been licensed by the New York State Department of Health to receive, store and issue donor human milk. The only hospital with such a license in Westchester County, Phelps is known for its long-standing commitment to breastfeeding. Last year it was rated as one of the top ten hospitals in the area for mothers who deliver at Phelps and successfully breastfeed their infants.

Human milk provides optimal nutrition for infants and young children, promoting normal growth and development and reducing the risk of illness and disease. However, some mothers have difficulty producing adequate amounts of milk.

"At Phelps, this now means that when newborns require supplementation, mothers will be able to give their babies donor human milk, which contains useful antibodies and immune properties, and is more easily digested by infants," says Gould. "Breast milk is human milk designed for human babies."

Doctors may prescribe supplementation for a variety of reasons. It could be that a baby is in a special care nursery or has elevated bilirubin levels, which leads to jaundice. The mother might be ill or taking medication that is contraindicated for providing breast milk. Or perhaps a baby has a low glucose level. When the mother's milk is unavailable or additional milk is required, pasteurized donor milk from a recognized milk bank is the next best option. Mothers will be required to sign a consent form to obtain donor milk and will need a doctor's order before the baby can be fed donor milk.

Donors are women who produce an abundance of milk that they do not need for their own babies. Milk donors are screened to make sure they are free of pre-existing medical conditions such as hepatitis or HIV. Phelps will obtain milk from one of two facilities, WakeMed, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, that processes the milk, or Hudson Valley Milk Bank in Irvington, that also obtains milk from WakeMed. The milk is pasteurized at WakeMed and shipped to Phelps in a frozen state.

In order to receive the new state license, Phelps had to meet stringent standards requiring staff education and the establishment of policies and procedures that will be reviewed annually. The hospital will also be required to submit logs to the Department of Health on an annual basis.

In addition, Phelps had to demonstrate the ability to store the milk safely and securely. For that, Phelps purchased a freezer and temperature probe. All this comes at a cost—the milk alone is $5 per ounce. This fee covers the costs of processing, storage, handling and shipping of the product.

Westchester Putnam Rockland Lactation Consortium donated money to purchase the freezer, temperature probe and an initial supply of milk. Phelps plans to apply for a grant and will assume any additional costs to continue the program.

Dr. Myra Mercado, a neonatologist at Phelps, will oversee the new program. "Breastfeeding is a way of providing better health for growing babies," says Dr. Mercado. "The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. With our new license, Phelps can now help all mothers meet that recommendation."