25 Impacts in 25 Years
Launched as the fourth – and now largest – milk bank in the US regulated by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America
Dispensed more than 10 million ounces of safe donor milk
Provided donor milk to babies in 286 hospitals in 45 US states and one territory
Provided donor milk to 2,367 outpatient recipients
Enabled 10,965 lactating women to become lifesavers through milk donation
Changed the milk bank industry’s approach to pooling donations from multiple donors to optimize
growth:
- Calibrated a laser spectrometer, the Foss Milkoscan FT120, to identify the fat, protein and lactose levels in human milk
- Developed a protocol for targeting energy and protein levels in milk pools to meet the differing needs of fragile babies
Developed lab practices that nearly eliminate waste due to bacterial contamination of milk
Researched and designed a safe, high-density, polyethylene bottle and tamper-evident cap made
specifically for donor human milk, reducing costs and time previously spent sanitizing and wrapping individually filled glass bottles or relying on imported plastic bottles
Met every medical referral for a fragile outpatient baby needing donor milk irrespective of insurance
coverage or family financial resources
Created a Lactation and Tears Program for families grieving the loss of an infant and planted a Memorial Garden where every single baby’s name whose mother donated milk despite her loss is represented on an engraved river stone
Successfully advocated for Texas Medicaid coverage for donor human milk
Successfully advocated for Department of Defense’s Tricare coverage for donor human milk
Provided leadership through chairing the Human Milk Banking Association of North America’s Standards Committee for 15 years, serving as HMBANA’s President for two years, and mentoring newly developed milk banks in Fort Worth, in ten other states, and in one Canadian province
Mentored governments on milk banking and infant feeding in China, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, and Turkey
Developed an equity-focused scholarship program for African-American woman to become certified doulas in Austin
Developed a group-centered breastfeeding education and equity program for low-income women
Created a Bridge Milk Program to provide a small volume of donor milk to healthy babies whose moms experienced delayed lactation and at no charge if mothers are Texas Medicaid eligible
Created an emergency charitable assistance program to provide donor milk to babies whose breastfeeding mothers’ milk supply was temporarily or permanently interrupted by maternal morbidity or mortality
Responded to the nationwide infant formula crisis by creating a program to provide a short-term supply of donor milk for affected families and negotiated payment of processing fees by Abbott for the donor milk needed by infants with severe kidney disease
Developed the first nutrition labels for donor human milk
Mentored 175 university students majoring in dietetics through four-day internships focusing on the benefits of breastfeeding and donor milk
Navigated COVID concerns by collaborating with university researchers to demonstrate the safety of donor human milk during the epidemic
Designed and built the largest and most technically advanced nonprofit milk bank facility in North America
Partnered with St. David’s Foundation on innovative mortgage financing for MMBA’s building enabling increased cash flow for program expansion
Installed a rooftop solar array with an estimated annual production of 367,000 kilowatt-hours to give back to the Austin grid while supporting our own large energy requirement