PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 3, 2006

MEDIA - FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Deborah Perry Phone (361) 442-4538

BREAST MILK COLLECTION SITE REPORTS SUCCESS -
MORE THAN 10,000 OUNCES COLLECTED IN FOUR MONTHS;
HOSPITAL LOOKING TO GROW PROGRAM

Free Seminar
“Driscoll Children’s Hospital as a Breast Milk Collection Site:
How Does It Work? What Are Its Benefits?”
Friday, June 16, 2006
2 – 4 p.m.
Driscoll Children’s Hospital - Auditorium

Seminar is free and open to the public including moms interested in possibly becoming donors, as well as medical professionals such as nurses, dietitians, and physicians.

(Corpus Christi, TX) Since February 2006, Driscoll Children’s Hospital has been a mother’s milk (breast milk) bank collection site for the Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin (MMBA). The hospital’s in-house breastfeeding resource center, “Mom’s Place,” has processed more than 10,000 ounces of breast milk to date from six different donors. The unique program reacts to growing regional needs for healthy breast-feeding women wishing to share their excess breast milk due to increased demands from hospitals state-wide for medically fragile infants.

Driscoll Children’s Hospital is interested in increasing awareness of the program, breast milk availability, and attracting potential donors. The hospital will host a free seminar on Friday, June 16, 2006 featuring Kim Updegrove, CNM, MSN, MPH, of the Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin, who will relay current information on human breast milk donation and milk banking. Specifically, she will discuss how moms can donate, how milk is tested and pasteurized, and how doctors can order milk for their patients.

Mother’s breast milk that is collected at Driscoll and donated to MMBA is tested, pasteurized, and stored in Austin. With proven ideal nutrition and immunological protection, the milk is then dispensed by doctors’ prescription to premature and seriously ill infants, as well as older children and adults with certain medical conditions. With the added program at Driscoll, local moms and their donations will be able to potentially help fill breast milk needs south of San Antonio including Victoria, Laredo, San Patricio County area, the entire Rio Grande Valley, and everywhere in between - all 33,000-square-miles where the hospital’s patients live.

Driscoll is one of only nine milk collection sites within the State of Texas donating to MMBA. Hundreds of milk collection sites exist in North America and is always expanding so that the donation process is less onerous for donors. In addition, there are only eight other milk banks similar to Austin throughout the North America including facilities in Denver, Colorado; San Jose, California; Iowa City, Iowa; Newark, New Jersey; Ft. Worth, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

“It is truly an honor for Driscoll to be able to support this complete volunteer endeavor which truly works to improve the health of seriously ill infants throughout South Texas,” said Mom’s Place Lactation Coordinator, Laurie Beck, R.N., M.S.N., I.B.C.L.C. Driscoll is the only hospital in the Coastal Bend to employ a full-time lactation consultant available to help in supporting and educating breastfeeding families.

Premature infants are at higher risk for disease and death when their immature systems try to digest commercial baby formula. Pre-term infants fed easily digested human milk are ten times less likely to develop devastating intestinal diseases. They also have better brain development, require shorter hospitalization, and get fewer infections than infants fed formula.

Parents or physicians interested in obtaining breast milk for their children or patients may call the Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin at (512) 494-0800 or (877) 813-6455. Although some insurance programs pay for the service, MMBA does not turn away anyone for their inability to pay. Like giving blood, breast milk donors are not compensated in any way.

Who Can Local Moms Donate? How Can I Donate?
Healthy, non-medicated mothers currently breastfeeding with large amounts of excess milk are ideal donor candidates. Donors do not have to be Driscoll patient’s mothers. Potential donors must register with the Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin (512-494-0800) and undergo a health screening. Once screened, donors receive an identification number and official bottling materials. Donors can collect milk in varying quantities in the privacy of own home and deliver it to Driscoll where it is stored in a freezer, then expressed shipped to Austin. Moms cannot donate once their baby is one-year-old.

Since opening in May 2004, nearly 38,000 ounces of breast milk have been stored and 476 moms of patients have pumped at Driscoll’s “Mom’s Place.” In addition, 25 Driscoll employees have utilized the facility as well.

Driscoll Children's Hospital Logo
About Driscoll Children’s Hospital
“Improve the health of adults and you give them back their health …
Improve the health of children and you give them their life.”

Since opening its doors in 1953, Driscoll Children’s Hospital has been offering hope and healing to the children of South Texas for half a century. The facility is a 189-bed pediatric tertiary care center with pediatric board-certified specialists representing 19 medical and nine surgical specialties. Each year, more than 6,000 children are admitted for inpatient care, 5,000 for day surgery, and 50,000 for outpatient primary and specialty care, as well as 40,000 for emergency care, as the first South Texas hospital with emergency services exclusively for children. Additionally, Driscoll maintains a state-of-the-art ground/air transport team, 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit, 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and specialized medical outreach.

www.driscollchildrens.org

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