Area milk bank sees increase in donations amid formula shortages

As the baby formula shortage continues to cause new parents stress, some giving mothers are donating their own breast milk to try and help.

In a press conference Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he was not made aware of the baby formula shortage until April.

The government recently chose to use foreign supplies through The Defense Production Act to try and stock shelves here in the United States.

Millions of bottles of formula are expected to ship to the U.S. starting next week from Britain and Australia, but it still could take a while for them to reach the shelves.

This is why OhioHealth Mothers’ Milk Bank as seen an uptick in mothers wanting to help other parents during this time.

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“We have seen a phenomenal spike in about the last three weeks, we’ve had a lot of generous women calling, wanting to donate milk and help with the shortage,” Chris Smith, outreach and operation coordinator for OhioHealth Mothers’ Milk Bank said.

Mothers have to go through a screening process to make sure that the milk they are donating is safe to be given to other babies.

“Looking at medications, lifestyle histories, medical histories and things like that. Then we also get consent from Mom’s doctor and baby’s doctor that both are healthy, and the doctors are okay with them donating their extra milk,” Smith said.

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The bank also covers the cost to look for bloodborne pathogens before accepting a donation.

Parents who want to take the milk home with them need a prescription from their baby’s pediatrician to give them the donated milk.

The process takes roughly a week.

Parents can call the OhioHealth Mothers’ Milk Bank at (614) 566-0630 or email them at MilkBank@OhioHealth.com.