Austin’s milk bank has seen a 700% increase in postpartum mothers wishing to donate milk.
had not admitted any babies for malnutrition due to the shortage as of Tuesday,Mothers' Milk BankKim Updegrove."These infants must be fed. There's no tolerance for a brief starvation period for infants. We know for their brains, there is no catch-up development later if we don't feed kids now."
The milk bank has to prioritize feeding babies who are medically fragile, Updegrove said, and they serve babies in neonatal intensive care at more than 180 hospitals across the country. Normally the nonprofit doesn't receive requests for milk from families with healthy babies, but since the formula shortage started affecting Austin two weeks ago, they've received about 30 calls a week from families in need of pasteurized human milk.
Updegrove said financial and milk donations will save lives during the shortage , but in the long term, the country as a whole can avoid starving its infants with smart policy decisions. Updegrove said gaps in access to, work-from-home options, and health care specialists including lactation counselors prevent many healthy mothers from breastfeeding.
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