We have known for decades that babies born too small, too sick, or too soon, benefit from an exclusive diet of human milk to foster their growth and development. Not only does human breast milk provide the exact nutrients that baby needs, it also protects against illness and infection, which can quickly overwhelm a newborn’s system, especially those born prematurely or with illness. But we also know exclusively feeding human milk provides short-term and long-term benefits to ALL babies.
For almost 20 years, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital has been using pasteurized human breast milk from donors for their NICU patients when mom’s own milk is not available or needs supplementation. Now SSM Health is enhancing the compassionate care our littlest patients receive, and supporting mom’s decision to breastfeed, by expanding the use of pasteurized donor milk, without charge, throughout all of our birthing centers and special care nurseries in the St. Louis region.
SSM Health is currently the only health care system in the St. Louis region offering this service systemwide to all of our newborns. The four Family Birthplace centers are located at SSM Health DePaul Hospital - St. Louis, SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton, SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis, and SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis.
As Katie Althoff-Moore, Regional Director of Women’s Services at SSM Health’s Family Birthplaces in St. Louis says, “This expansion allows us to provide exceptional health care resources to babies at no additional cost to the parents. By offering donated human milk for all babies in need, we’re able to improve health outcomes, save lives, and assure parents their child is receiving the best nutrition.”
To provide this lifesaving service, SSM Health partners with The Milk Bank, a non-profit organization dedicated to the sourcing and distribution of human milk from carefully screened donors. They collect, pasteurize, freeze, and supply the milk to hospitals and individual homes in 25 states.
The Milk Bank’s CEO, Freedom Kolb shares, “We are proud of our longstanding partnership with SSM Health and excited about this expanded access to pasteurized donor human milk. This collaboration highlights deep commitment to infant health, patient care, and will no doubt save lives. We are grateful to everyone who made this possible.”
The Milk Bank counts on the generosity of over 1,000 milk donors every year to serve the newborns at SSM Health and other hospitals across the country. One such milk donor is Paige from St. Louis. She explains, “Rowan and I are lucky we get to share this with other babies. I hope this milk offers the same relief I felt as a new NICU mom thrown into motherhood before I was expecting it.”
The expanded pasteurized donor breast milk program launched on July 1, 2024. It will allow every baby at every one of our birthing centers and nurseries a better chance to thrive with the help of donated human milk.
Learn more about breastfeeding and neonatal care at SSM Health in St. Louis.
Those interested in milk donation can start the approval process by going to themilkbank.org.
