Indiana WIC Brings Milk Depot To Warsaw
WARSAW — The Milk Bank is partnering with Indiana WIC to bring the 22nd Milk Bank to Indiana. The milk depot opened today, Monday Nov. 9, at the K21 Health Services Pavilion, 1515 Provident Drive, Warsaw.
The Milk Bank, an HMBANA-affiliated nonprofit milk bank, improves health outcomes for premature and ill infants. They are the first and only donor human milk bank in Indiana and they operate by receiving human milk from carefully screened donors and pasteurize, freeze and test for sterility before distributing milk throughout the United States. With 45 drop-off locations throughout the Midwest, The Milk Bank has received milk donations from 30 states and supplied donor milk to more than 100 hospitals in 28 states.
“We are excited to bring the Milk Bank to the Warsaw area … Fort Wayne is the closest place, so we are excited to be in Warsaw,” said Executive Director Janice O’Rourke. “Moms that want to donate often have problems donating to us, and a milk depot offers services to allow them to have a local drop-off point. We are grateful to have milk depots.”
“This helps us to increase the amount of milk we have available, and we want to thank Warsaw WIC for making this available,” said O’Rourke.
Penny Martin, breastfeeding coordinator for the Kosciusko County WIC Program, said “Breastfeeding has always been an important component of WIC because of the optimal nutrition breastmilk provides for newborns. According to the latest statistics, approximately 75 percent of WIC mothers in Kosciusko County initiate breastfeeding, five percent about the state average. We think this is due to the strong breastfeeding education efforts by WIC, as well as WIC’s partnership with the KCH OB department.”
“We are thrilled to open a milk depot to welcome more Indiana mothers to our mission,” said O’Rourke. “When more mothers are aware of how easy the milk donation process is and how they can be a part of our life saving mission, more infants will benefit.”
Mothers can sign up to donate breast milk by calling (877) 829-7470. Mothers will go through a screening process, then be given a donor packet. Once the donor packet is complete, WIC will cover a local blood-drawing process and the mother will be set to donate. Any mother signing up must commit to 100 ounces of milk before their child is two years old.
For more information on the milk depot and more Milk Bank locations, visit www.themilkbank.org.