Lexington organization, Mother Nurture,
to house a human milk donation drop off site

Lexington business Mother Nurture – a Breastfeeding Resource Center and Baby Boutique – will join forces with the Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank to collect donor human milk at the first donation drop off location in Central Kentucky beginning Jan. 26. Carefully screened donors will deliver their human milk to Mother Nurture’s Milk Depot, where it will be frozen and stored until it is transported to the Indiana Mother’s Milk Bank, which provides pasteurized donor human milk to ill or premature infants throughout Indiana and the Midwest.

“We regularly receive calls from Lexington area moms interested in donating their extra storage of expressed milk,” said Cerise Bouchard, Mother Nurture owner and newest Milk Depot coordinator. “Our staff is honored to help make it more convenient for such a precious donation, while increasing the availability of human milk for babies.”

“We are very excited to officially launch our second Milk Depot located outside of Indiana. The Indiana Mother’s Milk Bank has been operating seven Milk Depots in Indiana for over 3 years and the response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Janice O’Rourke, executive director of the Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank. “We have seen steady increases in human milk donations from the Lexington area and are proud to partner with such a great organization to provide this service for moms and families in the community.”

Mother Nurture will be the Milk Bank’s ninth donation center, joining the current Indiana Mothers’ Milk Depots, or IMMD, currently operating in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Michigan City, and Muncie, South Bend and Louisville.

“IMMB hopes to continue forging partnerships with organizations throughout the Midwest in order to make the process of human milk donation easier for donor moms and families, while also helping to support breastfeeding in local communities,” said Janice O’Rourke, Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank Executive Director. “This Milk Depot opening marks an exciting period of growth and will support breastfeeding initiatives already in place in the Lexington community.”

“I am so fortunate to have an oversupply of milk, and wanted to help out other mothers who wanted to give their babies the best but couldn’t,” said Jessica Santangelo of Richmond, KY, current Milk Bank human milk donor. “Having the depot in Lexington is a great opportunity to not only give donors a convenient location to drop off their milk, but it will also reach mothers who come to Mother Nurture for classes, playgroups or to shop who don’t know about human milk donation and Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank.”

Santangelo has already donated 500 ounces during the past several months and has 1000 more ounces at the ready to donate when the Milk Depot at Mother Nurture opens. “This is a great thing – both for moms in central Kentucky who have extra milk they do not want to waste and for babies in need of milk. Hopefully, all those breastfeeding moms lucky enough to have extra milk can take advantage of this great service,” she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, breast milk is easy for infants to digest and contains nutrition and antibodies that can protect them from disease and infection. Much of the Milk Bank’s community outreach strives to support breastfeeding and the use of human milk.

From Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank