HEALTH
neonatalnurturing BREAST MILK DONATION PROGRAM HELPS LOW BIRTH WEIGHT BABIES THRIVE
Itdidn’ ttake GinaGiordano more than afew minutes to agreetoan offer brought to her soon after her son William was born seven weeks early via an emergency cesarean at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center last summer.
Unable to providehim with her own breastmilk because of his earlyarrival and health issues of her own, aneonatologist suggested she give William donated breast milk that had been pasteurized and safety tested.
Introduced last summer, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center’ s Pasteurized Donor HumanMilk program( PDHM) is offered to pretermand low birth weight infants in the hospital’ s neonatal intensive care unit( NICU).
“ Pasteurized donor breastmilkis becoming the standard of care for preemies when amother can’ t produce enoughbreast milk, or used as abridge while she’ s awaiting her breast milk, or in cases where she can’ t breast feed at all,” says Dr. Loren DeLuca, neonatologist at Englewood Hospital and MedicalCenter and the PDMH program coordinator.
To qualify for the donor milk program, babies mustweigh less than 1,500 grams( 3.3 pounds) or be less than 32 weeks gestation.“ We alsohave inclusion criteria for babies who have had GI surgical procedures or who have a severe cow’ s milk allergy, atthe discretionofthe neonatologist,” says DeLuca.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has long recommended that whenever possible, breast milk is best for babies and DeLuca strongly agrees, adding that there are additional benefits for preemies, including lesseningthe riskof infections, alife-threatening condition called necrotizing enterocolitis, aswell
MOMS HELPING MOMS Englewood Hospital and Medical Center now offers pasteurized human donor milk for preterm and low birth weight babies.
as fewer hospital readmissions.
Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, a nonprofitcommunity milk bank operating underthe guidelines of the Human Milk Bank AssociationofNorth America, provides thedonated breast milk. Mothers interested in donating breast milk, typicallythose who produce an abundance and have some to spare, must first undergo an extensive screening process, including ahealth historyand blood test. They must not be on medications or herbalsupplements( with afew exceptions), beanon-smoker and willingtodonate aminimum of 150 ounces of milk over the course of alactation period. The donor milk is ordered by Englewood Hospital and MedicalCenter on an as-needed basis andasupply is kept in thefreezer.
“ It comestouspacked in dry ice with batch numbersonit,” Carullo says.“ We treat it like amedication.”
“ Parents might be alittle reluctant at first to receivethe donated milk,” DeLuca says.“ But when we discuss the strict screening process of the donor and the benefits ofbreastmilkfor their infant, they understand. We’ ve never offered it and had someone say no.”
Another advantage, besides the obvious ones for the infant, is the pressure taken off the mother.
“ They know their baby is being fed and can see the benefits of less spitting up and abdominal distention from early feedings with breast milk. Almost as importantly, with thestress of having apremature baby, sometimes milk production is affected, so this helps fill that gap,” says DeLuca.
“ Moms feel that breast milk is best,” Carullo says.“ And if they’ re not producing it themselves and feeling antsy about it, they are happy that this is available and instituted early on in those first few importantdays.” ●
– LUCY PROBERT
THINKSTOCK
10 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 |( 201) FAMILY