CommunityPositively LEX 18

Actions

Kentucky breast milk donors increase 600% after recent partnership

kentucky blood center milk donations.jpg
Posted at 1:30 PM, Oct 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-21 19:15:16-04

(LEX 18) — We have a Positively LEX 18 update to a story we shared a few weeks ago.

That’s when the Kentucky Blood Center started accepting donations of frozen breast milk for sick and premature infants.

Since KBC announced their partnership with The Milk Bank, more than 30 new women across the Commonwealth signed up to donate their own breast milk. According to executive director Freedom Kolb, that’s about a 600 percent increase in Kentucky donors.

“Moms will answer the call,” Kolb said. “Families will answer the call to save human lives, to save the tiniest human lives, if they know the service is available, and it's accessible in their own community.”

Kolb also says now is the time for moms to consider donating their own milk, since the organization is seeing signs the supply is slowing down nationwide.

“Right now The Milk Bank is stable,” she said. “That’s one of the things that we are most proud of throughout the pandemic. We have not missed a single order from a NICU, a hospital, an outpatient. But if folks are considering milk donation, I would really encourage them to reach out now.”

There are currently a dozen drop-off sites across Kentucky, including three in Lexington, two of which are at Kentucky Blood Center locations.

Find out more about becoming a donor here.