Sleepy Eye Medical Center (SEMC) is now home to a Milk Depot through a partnership with the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies, providing a convenient local drop-off site for approved breast milk donors in the region.
The new Milk Depot makes it easier for area donors to participate by reducing the need to travel to other Milk Bank drop-off locations.
“Having a Milk Depot right here means donors no longer have to travel as far to donate, which was a real barrier for a lot of moms who wanted to donate but couldn’t make the trip,” said Chiloe Kottke, Director of Nursing at SEMC. “Now, approved donors can drop off milk locally, making the process much more convenient and accessible.”
SEMC collects donated breast milk from approved donors and sends it to the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies in Roseville, MN, where it is screened and pasteurized before being distributed to babies who need it, including infants receiving care in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).
For SEMC Radiologic Technologist Megan VanZandt, the importance of donor milk became personal when her youngest baby was unexpectedly flown to Children’s Minnesota shortly after birth.
“When our last baby was unexpectedly flown up to the NICU at Children’s immediately after birth, the flight crew misplaced the milk I had sent with them. We ended up using two ounces of donor milk until I could get to my newborn,” VanZandt said.
The experience prompted conversations with a lactation consultant about the benefits of donor milk and the ongoing need for donors. VanZandt, who discovered she was an overproducer after the birth of her first child, began the donor approval process about a week after her youngest baby’s birth.
Since then, VanZandt estimates she has donated approximately 27,000 ounces of breast milk over the years, including milk provided to the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies. Before SEMC became a Milk Depot, she made four trips to the Twin Cities to drop off milk through the milk bank. On another occasion, a volunteer pilot flew into New Ulm to transport thousands of ounces of donated milk to Minneapolis.
“SEMC becoming a Milk Depot has not only saved me a few undesirable trips to Minneapolis, but it will hopefully open a bridge between supplying breast milk to babies that need it here, too,” VanZandt said.
The idea of opening a Milk Depot at SEMC had been considered for several years, but VanZandt’s experience helped demonstrate the need for a local option and encouraged SEMC to move forward.
Individuals interested in becoming breast milk donors must first complete the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies’ donor approval process, which includes an interest form, medical history questionnaire and blood test at no cost to the donor. Detailed instructions can be found at https://www.mnmilkbank.org/donate-milk/.
Approved donors can schedule a drop-off appointment at SEMC by contacting Chiloe Kottke, IBCLC, at 507-794-8456. Katie Bloedow, CLC, is also available to assist when Kottke is unavailable and can be reached at 507-794-8457.
SEMC hopes to explore opportunities to make donor milk available to local patients in the future.