Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center is pleased to announce the grand opening of their Mothers' Milk Bank (MMB) Donation and Outreach Center. The new location is in the hospital's Family Birthing Center. An opening celebration will be held on Thursday, Nov. 10, from noon-2 p.m., in the hospital's atrium lobby by the main entrance.
Dan and Megan Lombardo of Salida will take part in the opening and share their personal experience with MMB in Denver following the birth of their daughter in 2013. "My milk didn't exactly come rushing in to greet her!" said Megan Lombardo. They started to use a supplemental nursing system with donor human milk until Lombardo had an adequate supply of her own. "Not only did MMB help us when we needed it the most at the beginning, but they helped us go on to continue to successfully breastfeed exclusively."
HRRMC is one of two rural Colorado donation and outreach centers for MMB, a Colorado-based, nonprofit program benefiting women and babies nationwide. Mothers in our region can make a difference in babies' lives by donating their excess milk to MMB.
HRRMC's Family Birthing Center staff will safely ship the milk donations to MMB's Denver facility, where it is pasteurized and distributed to babies across the country whose mothers cannot supply sufficient milk for their needs.
"We are honored to be part of this amazing program," said Family Birthing Center Manager Judy Smith. "Donor human milk saves the lives of fragile infants, and we are grateful for the women who so generously donate."
To learn more about MMB and its efforts to provide milk to babies who need it nationwide, visit www.milkbankcolorado.org. Women interested in giving the gift of donor human milk may fill out the donation screening form on MMB's website or call 303-869-1888.
For more information about HRRMC's milk donation and outreach center opening, call 530-2417.
About Mothers' Milk Bank
A nonprofit program of Rocky Mountain Children's Health Foundation, Mothers' Milk Bank (MMB) collects, processes and provides human donor milk to babies across the country. Babies who receive the milk may be premature or have severe illnesses and need human milk to thrive. MMB consistently provides more milk to neonatal intensive care units than any other nonprofit milk bank in North America and adheres to the strict guidelines of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. For more information on MMB, visit www.milkbankcolorado.org.
