LAFAYETTE, La. — Being a mother is hard enough and imagine feeling guilt for not being able to produce enough breast milk to feed your baby. Over Lafayette General Medical Center, it's the first milk bank depot in Southwest Louisiana and the third breast milk donation depot in the state.
A registered milk donator is someone who passed all prior screening to donate their human milk. To find out how you can become a donor, we have that information down below.
The donated milk goes towards babies in the neonatal intensive care unit all over the state.
All donated frozen breast milk will be sent to the Mother’s Milk Bank of Louisiana at Ochsner Baptist Medical Center, where it is processed and pasteurized.
KATC spoke with a mother Oilvia Viguerie who did not use the depot herself, but who had difficulty producing sufficient milk in her second pregnancy. She reached out via Facebook to other mothers who are struggling with breast feeding and felt a strong sense of community and support. Viguerie has a reminder for those who are going through the same struggles that there are options and advice out there.
"Number one it’s ok, it’s ok that your body isn’t not doing what you think it’s supposed to do. You’ve done amazing," she says. "When it’s time to quit, you’ll know it and you’ll come to a decision. Until then you keep trying all the things and reach out to other moms, they are usually so so helpful. There’s definitely other options.”
She recommends connecting with other mothers in the community to seek support.
"It makes you feel okay, like this is normal and you have help, you have answers and you try all the different things," said Viguerie. "You have people that have your back. You can go to other moms full of tears, like 'I'm ready to give up,' and they are like 'don’t give up, try ABC'."
You can be a good candidate for milk donation if:
- You are currently or recently lactating and have surplus milk.
- You’re nursing an infant who is younger than 9 months old. Bereaved or surrogate mothers are also eligible to donate.
- You are in good overall health.
- You do not take supplements or certain medications.
- You do not smoke, use illegal drugs or drink alcohol.
- You are willing to have a blood test completed at no cost to you.
In a statement to KATC, Ochsner Lafayette General Chief Nursing Officer Renee Delahoussaye says:
“For mothers who cannot breastfeed babies born prematurely, pasteurized donor human milk from the Mothers' Milk Bank of Louisiana at Ochsner Baptist provides a vital alternative. Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center has a Milk Depot, which offers temporary safe storage for donated breast milk. The milk is then processed and distributed to hospitals across Louisiana to help delicate newborns get healthy. To learn more, visit Ochsner.org/milkbank.”
Before donating at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center, please note:
Drive-through drop off is available Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., (excluding holidays) at the front entrance, located at 1214 Coolidge St.
Before making a drop-off, please call Darlene Leblanc, RN, IBCLC, RLC, at 337-289-7785 to schedule a drop-off time.
Each individual bag of milk must be clearly labeled with the date pumped.
Frozen milk containers grouped into grocery bags should have an ID card in the bag.
For more information on becoming a breast milk donor, please call 504-703-6455 or email mothersmilkbank@ochsner.org.
If you are already an approved breast milk donor, there’s a drive thru drop off option at LGMC.
