Brookings Health Becomes Mother’s Milk Bank Collection Depot

  • September 03, 2024
Brookings Health System is now the 46th breast milk collection depot for the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa, only the fourth collection site in South Dakota. Approved donors can now drop off their donations by appointment to New Beginnings Birth Center. Milk will be stored and frozen until gathered by the milk bank. The Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa then pasteurizes milk and dispenses it to locations across the United States, like pictured above.
Brookings Health System is now the 46th breast milk collection depot for the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa, only the fourth collection site in South Dakota. Approved donors can now drop off their donations by appointment to New Beginnings Birth Center. Milk will be stored and frozen until gathered by the milk bank. The Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa then pasteurizes milk and dispenses it to locations across the United States, like pictured above.

Brookings Health System is now the 46th breastmilk collection depot for the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa collection program. The health system is just the fourth collection site in South Dakota.

“Some lactating mothers are blessed with the gift of surplus breast milk,” said Brookings Health System Obstetrics Director Michelle Sand, RN. “Donating surplus breast milk helps satisfy infant hunger and saves the lives of vulnerable babies, especially those who are born prematurely or with weakened immune systems. Human donor milk is also a great option for babies who are adopted or for mothers who have milk supply issues. By becoming a collection depot for donors, Brookings Health System is continuing our goal to support mothers and babies in all aspects of breastfeeding.”

Approved donors may drop-off their frozen milk by appointment to the New Beginnings Birth Center obstetrics unit by calling (605) 696-8052. The milk will be frozen and stored until gathered by Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa which will pasteurize the milk and dispense it to locations across the United States.

Milk donors must be in good health and willing to pump and store milk according to the milk bank’s standards. Donors must donate a minimum of 200 ounces of milk over the course of their donation period. To become a donor, lactating women must pass a screening process that includes a verbal interview, written questionnaire, permission to contact their health care providers, and blood testing. Other donation requirements include: 

  • Non-smoking
  • Not taking medication (with a few exceptions)
  • Not consume alcohol 12 hours before pumping donated milk
  • Not taking herbal supplements, including herbs in multivitamin (multivitamin is not an exclusion)

Individuals interested in becoming a human milk donor may contact Heidi Baudhuin at (319) 384-9930 or heidi-baudhuin@uiowa.edu. More information can also be found online at brookingshealth.org/milkdonor. 

In 2023, Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa dispensed milk to eight states, serving 44 hospitals. Seventy-four percent of the donated milk was dispensed to hospitals and 26% to infants at home. People interested in ordering donor human milk may contact the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa at (319) 384-9929 or (319) 356-2652.

Brookings Health System’s OB unit, New Beginnings Birth Center, has eight beds consisting of five labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum (LDRP) suites, one triage room and two to four postpartum recovery rooms. The unit provides full OB services to expectant parents and enables area residents to deliver their baby close to home with a local physician. The OB team’s care philosophy includes letting parents choose the birth experience they want, embracing the female body’s natural ability to give birth, and supporting mothers and babies in all aspects of breastfeeding. To learn more about New Beginnings Birth Center, please visit brookingshealth.org/OB.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.