Springfield milk depot puts donations on hold after KC milk bank closes

Published: May. 17, 2022 at 7:12 AM CDT
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Due to the ongoing baby formula shortage, health officials are urging new mothers to donate breast milk to their local milk banks. But, here in Springfield that has been a bit more difficult.

For several years, the Ozarks Regional Breastfeeding Coalition has run the Greater Ozarks Regional Mother’s Milk Depot. It’s a partnership between the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, the local hospitals, and the local WIC office. Before, it would send donated breast milk to St. Luke’s Heart of America Mother’s Milk Bank in Kansas City. The milk would then be screened, mixed, and sent out to hospital NICUs, including those at Mercy and Cox Health here in Springfield. But in January, that milk bank was closed due to staffing shortages.

“So we are not accepting those donations at this time,” explains Tawana Frazier, a Nutritionist and Lactation Consultant with WIC.

Frazier explains both Mercy Hospital and Cox Health started receiving milk from The Milk Bank, based out of Indiana, pretty quickly after the Kansas City closure. Getting that partnership for the breastfeeding coalition going is currently in the works.

“It’s going to be the same as what our previous setup was,” says Frazier. “The milk banks that we work with are all run by HMBANA and have to meet their standards. So the process and everything is going to be the same. We’re still just gonna be the drop-off, we’re not going to be dispensing any breast milk.”

Frazier says mothers can still donate breast milk while that partnership is being created -- it’s just a bit more work. You can reach out to The Milk Bank directly, and after going through the screening process, the organization will send you the materials needed to ship it to Indianapolis. If you’re a mother who’s looking for milk for your baby, Frazier says you can get it directly from The Milk Bank as well. Just go to https://www.themilkbank.org/.

“They can also sell to individuals,” says Frazier. “The previous milk bank we worked with was only going through insurance, so basically just hospitals. It is pricey to purchase milk through a milk bank, but you know it’s going to be safe and not have those health risks.”

The Milk Bank offers a medical relief fund to help cover the cost of buying milk, for babies and mothers who are eligible. You can find more information about that here: https://www.themilkbank.org/tres-fund

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