Lincoln’s First Human Milk Depot at Logan County Department of Public Health Will Help Babies throughout Illinois and Wisconsin
Open House Thursday, April 25th
 

[April 18, 2019]  Logan County Department of Public Health (LCDPH) is proud to be the home of Lincoln’s first human milk depot.

Pasteurized donor human milk is an important nutritional therapy for many at-risk Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) babies, as it provides numerous benefits in the absence of the mother’s milk, including infection-fighting factors, active growth and development hormones, improved digestion and ideal nutrition. While LCDPH supports breastfeeding whenever possible, donor milk can be used when the mother has a low milk supply, is ill or on certain medications, or in cases of adoption or surrogacy.

The milk depot at LCDPH collects human milk donations from healthy, lactating women who are approved donors through Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes. The donations are then sent to the milk bank, where they are pasteurized to eliminate any viruses and bacteria. After pasteurization, the milk is tested once again for safety and distributed to hospitals.

“Rigorous safety protocols ensure that pasteurized donor human milk is safe when it’s provided from a milk bank that adheres to guidelines from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. Potential donors are blood tested and thoroughly screened for communicable diseases, activities that increase the risk of blood borne diseases, and the use of tobacco, alcohol, and medications,” says Summer Kelly, Executive Director of Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes. “Milk collected from LCDPH’s milk depot will help support the complex nutritional needs of sick and premature babies in Illinois and Wisconsin.”

There will be an open house with questions and interviews on Thursday, April 25, 2019 from 1:00-2:00pm at the Logan County Department of Public Health.

For more information, please contact Kara Davis or the WIC department with the Logan County Department of Public Health at 217-735-2317. The department hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:30pm. For more information regarding LCDPH services, you can log onto their website at WWW.LCDPH. ORG. 

[Kara A. Davis, RN, BSN
Director of Nursing/Assistant Administrator/ HealthWorks Case Manager
Logan County Department of Public Health]