Lactation Services

Breast pump rentals are available through the The Boutique at MMC. Ask your nurse for more information. If you are an active Women’s Infants and Children (WIC) client, ask them about covering the cost of your breast pump rental.

Maine Medical Center offers pasteurized donor breast milk to some babies in the Mother Baby Care Unit. Pasteurized donor breast milk, screened and processed by the Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast, can be used to supplement feedings while the mother works on increasing her milk supply and/or the baby improves in breastfeeding ability. The donor breast milk offered in the Mother Baby Care Unit is not meant to replace or substitute breastfeeding.

Can my baby get donor breast milk?

We will supply pasteurized donor breast milk to your baby if all of these requirements are met:

• Your baby is less than 96 hours (4 days) old
• You want to exclusively breastfeed (only give your baby breast milk), but are having a hard time producing milk right away
• There is a medical need to supplement with donor breast milk

What are the medical needs for supplementing with pasteurized donor breast milk?

Your baby might have a medical need for donor breast milk if your baby:

• Has lost too much weight
• Was born after 36 weeks gestation and is at risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

Your baby might need donor breast milk if the mother:

• Had maternal gestational diabetes
• Has insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
• Used beta-blockers medications during the pregnancy
• Is not able to make enough milk because of:
  • Illness or separation
  • Breast surgery
  • Insufficient glandular tissue

How long can my baby receive donor breast milk from Maine Medical Center?

Your baby can continue to receive donor breast milk until one of the following things happens:

• You are able to produce enough breast milk to meet your baby’s needs
• Your baby has been discharged from the hospital
• Your baby is older than 96 hours of age
• Your baby no longer has a medical need for supplementation

In order for your baby to receive pasteurized donor breast milk, you must also be actively working on increasing your own breast milk supply by latching, pumping, hand expression, etc. If you need help, please ask to speak with one of our Lactation Consultants.

Can I continue to give my baby donor breast milk after I leave the hospital?

If you are interested in ordering pasteurized donor breast milk to give your baby after being discharged from the hospital, or if you want to give your baby pasteurized donor breast milk and don’t meet the criteria to receive it from the Mother Baby Care Unit, you can buy it privately through the Mother’s Milk Bank North East, or through the Lactation department. For more information please call them at 617-527-6263 or visit their website: www.milkbankne.org.

Maine Medical Center is now a drop-off site for donated breast milk. This donated breast milk is stored in a freezer at MMC before being sent to the Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast (MMBNE) where it is pasteurized and given to babies in fragile health throughout the New England area.

Why is this important?

Human milk has been proven to be the gold standard as the most nutritious and beneficial food for babies. It is especially important for preterm and critically ill infants. Research shows sick infants who receive breast milk have fewer days of antibiotics; have markedly lower rates of diarrhea, urinary tract infections, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and even death. Hospital stays of these infants are significantly shorter as well. Breast milk – whether it’s mom’s own milk or donor milk – has been proven to fight infection and save the lives of Maine’s most fragile babies.

We are excited to be a part of this opportunity to emphasize the importance of breastfeeding, human milk, and donor milk. Many mothers of ill and premature infants are unable to provide enough milk for their babies. The gift of human milk can mean the difference between life and death for these infants. We are proud to make donating milk easier for mothers in the area. Some hospitals buy donated breast milk from milk banks to give to their sick baby patients, and some parents buy this milk directly from the milk bank.

Who is eligible to donate?

Donor mothers are women who are currently lactating and have surplus milk.

Donor mothers must be:

• In good general health
• A non-smoker
• Willing to undergo a blood test (at our expense)
• Not regularly using medication or herbal supplements (with some exceptions - please contact us)
• Willing to donate at least 150 ounces of milk

A woman would not be a suitable donor if:

• She has a positive blood test result for HIV, HTLV, Hepatitis B or C, or Syphilis
• She or her sexual partner are at risk for HIV
• She uses illegal drugs
• She smokes or uses tobacco products
• She has received an organ or tissue transplant or a blood transfusion in the last twelve months
• She regularly has more than two ounces or more of alcohol per day
• She has been in the United Kingdom for more than three months or in Europe for more than five years since 1980

As part of the screening process mothers are also required to have their blood drawn and results sent to the MMBNE.

How can I donate my breast milk?

If a woman has extra breast milk she’d like to donate, she should contact the Mother’s Milk Bank of Northeast (MMBNE). MMBNE will guide donors through a multiple step process, which includes:

• A phone health screening, which takes 10-15 minutes, it is modeled after blood donor screening.
• We will email or mail you a donor packet with information for you about becoming a donor and forms for you to fill out and send back to us. These can be sent by mail, email or fax.
• We will fax your physician and your baby’s physician to assure that they do not have any concerns about you donating your milk.
• When we have heard back from both physicians we will send you a blood kit, to have your blood drawn. We test for HIV, HTLV, Hepatitis B and C and Syphilis, all diseases that can pass through human milk. While these are all killed by our pasteurizing, we cannot accept donor mothers who have these diseases.
• Once we have received the blood test results, we will call you to arrange delivery of your milk.
• Once MMBNE approves you to be a donor, you may then contact MMC’s Donated Breast Milk Drop Off Site (milkdepot@mmc.org) to make an appointment to bring your milk to MMC. Once the freezer fills up, MMC will safely ship the milk to MMBNE for pasteurization and distribution.
  
  

Collecting and storing your milk for donation

We cannot receive your milk until the donor screening is complete. However, if you are considering donating your milk, or if you are collecting milk for donation during the screening process, please use the following MMBNE’s guidelines for pumping and storing your milk.

• If you or anyone in your household is not feeling well, please put an X on those milk containers and separate them from milk you will donate. The milk is fine to feed your own baby, but should not be used to feed the fragile premature babies the milk bank serves.
• Before touching your pump or pump parts please wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water. Actively lather your hands for a full 15 seconds, paying close attention to the area around and under your fingernails. Antimicrobial soap is not necessary.
• If using bar soap, please use a rack that allows the bar to dry between uses. Dry your hands with a disposable single-use towel. Use the towel to turn off the tap. There is no need to wash your breasts. Rewash your hands if you touch anything other than your pump or your breasts.
• Express or pump your milk into a clean container, using clean pump parts. If you are interrupted, cap the milk and put it in the refrigerator. You may go back and finish pumping provided you will finish within 30 minutes of having started. Please be sure NOT to touch the inside of the caps, bottles, Snappies or bags or the threading of any bottles you may be using for storage.
• Please do NOT fill the containers past the markings. Milk expands on freezing and too-full bottles and bags will split. If the bags split and leak upon thawing, we cannot use it for pasteurization.
• Please do not use ordinary zipper bags for milk storage. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on milk storage container. Label the milk with: YOUR NAME and DATE of collection. When you are assigned a donor number, please add that to the bags. Use a new storage container each time you express your milk even if you have one that isn't full.
• Place the milk in the rear bottom of your freezer where it is the coldest. Please freeze the milk immediately after expressing it.
  
  

For more specific information about becoming a donor mom, please call MMBNE at (617) 527-6263 or email MMBNE.