Since donating to the Mother's Milk Bank at Austin (MMBA), I've been receiving their newsletter that they send out periodically. One of the great things about the newsletter is that they often include status reports of moms they've helped, donors they've approved, etc. It's nice to look at milk donation on this level and see what's going on. It's one of the few ways we can. Since milk-sharing is not regulated or controlled, there is virtually no way to count it and keep stats. This is good and bad. It means we don't know how many moms are in need, how many of those moms are getting help, how many moms there are out there helping, etc.
So, let's take a look at some of the numbers we can look at from one of the 13 HMBANA (Human Milk Banking Association of North America) milk banks.
21 - the number of states where MMBA ships milk
90 - the number of hospitals that MMBA serves
20 - the percent of milk donated to MMBA from the Houston area
20 - the percent of milk processed at MMBA that returns to serve Houston area hospitals
484 - the number of donors approved in 2012 (as of the date of publication)
In addition to those numbers, there is one more
5 - the number of HMBANA milk banks in development
While these numbers are wonderful, I can't help but be slightly saddened. In my mind, it's still not even remotely close to being enough. According to the CDC, about 1 in 8 babies is born premature. While not all babies will need donor milk, a lot do. Often, more than one donor is needed to feed a single baby, and considering that many babies continue to need donor milk after they leave the hospital to their first year after birth or longer, and the number of term babies that need donor milk, it starts to get really daunting. MMBA has even recently sent out a notice on their Facebook page describing how their freezers were empty. With no milk, they can't help babies in need. These babies will either have to receive milk from other milk banks, if it's available, or try to make it off of formula.
With hard work, more exposure to milk banking, recruiting more donors, and educating moms on breastfeeding, the demand can be lessened. One day, we may be to a point where the needs are all met, but for now, we just must spread the word and do what we can to facilitate moms and babies in need.
