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Georgia Morrow, coordinator for the Grant Medical Mothers' Milk Bank of Ohio, sorts mothers' milk that will be sent to Haiti. Credit: Jeff Hinckley, Columbus Dispatch
Milk from nursing mothers in Ohio and around the country is on its way to nourish sick babies in earthquake-ravished Haiti.
The Mothers' Milk Bank of Ohio answered the call from a Navy doctor treating ailing infants on the USNS Comfort, a floating hospital docked off the Haitian coast.
The doctor requested the milk because it can help save lives, says Georgia Morrow, coordinator of the milk bank operated by Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.
"We would not go through all of this if we did not believe this will allow the babies the best opportunity for survival," Morrow tells ParentDish.
Breast milk contains antibodies that will help the babies fight infections,a common problem children face after a disaster, she explains. Breast milk also is safer option because, unlike some types of formula, it does not have to be mixed with water, she says. Clean drinking water is in short supply in Haiti.
The banks typically provide breast milk, which can be frozen for up to a year, to babies in neonatal units in U.S. hospitals.
Ohio mom Tria Shadeed, who regularly donated milk to the bank until last month, told The Columbus Dispatch she hopes her milk was included in the shipment.
"I would be very proud to know that my milk would be used to help orphaned infants or infants who are hospitalized," she tells the newspaper.
For information about donating milk, visit hmbana.org.
Related: Signs that Your Baby is Getting Enough Breast Milk
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
1-28-2010 @ 12:14AM
cd said...How miraculous! God Bless those moms (and babies) who have been able to share their feast with those in need. If I was still nursing I would donate too, but those days are long gone. Nursing moms be proud!
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1-28-2010 @ 9:30AM
mizvargas said...makes me wish i was far along enough with my daughter to be able to lactate
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1-28-2010 @ 9:59AM
nisy said...Awww so sweet I breast fed all four of my children for 13 months apiece and stopped feeding my youngest about 9 months ago wish i could donate I make lots of milk to.
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1-28-2010 @ 5:48PM
brissy said...It comes to show that we as women can only do things to save the world. :) I had no idea that we had a breast milk bank. This is truly a miracle.
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1-28-2010 @ 11:04AM
Lori said...You are a disgusting waste of DNA. It never fails: there is a piece of crap like you on every forum.
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1-28-2010 @ 11:14AM
heidi said...These women should think about donating to children in our country,not haiti. I breastfed all five of my children and donated milk to babies here that needed it but I wouldn't send it out of the country,its not our problem.Americans need help here.
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1-28-2010 @ 1:32PM
Jamie said...I have to agree with Heidi. Though I do think it is nice to send milk (and other things) to people in need, it is sad that it takes a major disaster for some people to think of/help others. We have many people in need in our own country but because it isn't portrayed as a crisis or in the media every where we look, many people don't take action to help out the unfortunate people/children here. Even our government pledged some huge amount of money, but aren't we in a ridiculous amount of debt? We need this sort of support here in our own states every day!
1-28-2010 @ 11:30AM
comollilisa2 said...Babies are babies - no matter where they are born. I think these breast milk donations are wonderful.
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1-28-2010 @ 11:40AM
connie said...why are there always so many people out there who have to take something wonderful like helping the people of haiti in there time of need and complain about it. it's a shame how selfish and self serving so many people in our country have become, they would rather those babies die than to share "american" milk w/ them. I say, GOD bless those moms who are able to share, and God watch over those in need....especially those suffering from the devistation in Haiti right now, and those of you who complain about a story like this, b/c you seem to need a prayer just as much as those suffering overseas.
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1-28-2010 @ 2:39PM
Jamie said...Wow, did you come on here just to attack people's opinions and find something to go off about? You totally distorted them. I don't think that people are "complaining" about helping those babies. People, muself included, just see that our own nation needs help TOO. Just because our death toll isn't plastered all over the evening news does not mean that people aren't dying here, from things that could be helped by a little charity and compassion from their peers. How is that considered being 'selfish?' I just want the people on our own streets to get the same compassion and sympathy that people hundreds of miles away are gettting.
And who said they would 'rather see those babies die'...? Coming from out of left field...
1-28-2010 @ 11:41AM
r said...last thing haiti needs are more babies, send them condoms
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2-03-2010 @ 8:11AM
kathryn said..."the last thing the haittians need is more babies"? they aren't donating sex in order to have more babies or going there to invitro, they are sending breast milk to the babies that are already born, gosh. can u at least think before u post?
1-28-2010 @ 12:39PM
Heidi said...CREEPY
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1-29-2010 @ 11:17AM
lolab said...I understand that breast milk is best because of the immunity boost it provides new babies but I am not so sure it really counts in this situation. The diseases/bugs these babies are most vunerable against are ones many of us in the US have never been exposed (chlorea, dysentery, pneumonia etc) and therefore, have no antibodies. It is the reason why a lot of us get sick when we go to third world countries and try to live like the "natives." I am just not convinced formula (which last longer and is easier to transport and store) is not a better solution now and in the long run.
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1-28-2010 @ 12:51PM
Dee said...I hope none of these Mothers have STDs,AIDS,Etc! This is disgusting sharing body fluids!
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1-28-2010 @ 1:23PM
azula3 said...all the mothers and milk are tested, just like blood and sperm donations.
1-28-2010 @ 12:57PM
Debbie said...This is fantastic! Awesome women!! Way to go! I nursed both my sons and they never had that chemical formula. Too bad I am 54 and can't lactate anymore!
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1-28-2010 @ 3:53PM
CHRIS RUIZ said...GROSS,, AND THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY
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1-28-2010 @ 9:51PM
SCHOOL FIRST ! said...Hey Chris Ruiz, that's a pretty uneducated thing to say about the purest form of nutrition a baby can receive. Once you have a little education behind you, then you will understand just how healthy breast milk is for any child.
1-28-2010 @ 6:53PM
SCHOOL FIRST ! said...It's great to hear such wonderful news about donating mother's milk to needy children as these children did not ASK to be here. So please always help children! To comment on some other remarks made here, I also agree that Americans need to respond to it's own children also. Please look around you and see the little children right now who would give anything to have a glass of milk and some warm clothing. Do we need an earthquake to start helping our people here in America???
This does not mean that we Americans should not help those in need - Simply stating that our children here also need much help and we are turning our eyes away from an everyday situation right here at home.
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