Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center will open the Bangor area’s first breast milk donation center in partnership with a regional milk bank as the U.S. continues to deal with a baby formula shortage.
The Bangor hospital said the milk depot will open as milk banks across the country experience steep increases in demand. The formula shortage began during the pandemic, but was exacerbated by a recall and Abbott Nutrition’s closure of its Michigan infant formula production facility.
Between 2020 and 2021, Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast saw a 20 percent increase in demand, according to Northern Light.
The donation center will open on June 6 in the Northern Light Family Medicine and Residency practice at 895 Union Street, suite 12. It will be the seventh milk depot in Maine, with others located between Portland and Belfast.
A milk bank collects milk from mothers who have more milk than their babies need. Donors must undergo screening before dropping off milk for shipment to Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast. Staff there then pasteurize and test the milk before it’s distributed to babies in need.
An increasing number of hospitals will use donor milk in special care nurseries and well-baby units when babies need a supplement to their mothers’ own milk, according to Northern Light. Outpatients can also receive donor milk by prescription.
More information about receiving or donating milk is available on the Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast website at milkbankne.org/donate.
