Winnipeg gets breast milk drop site at St. Vital birth centre

A new breast milk dropcentre in Winnipeg will take donations for neonatal intensive care units across Canada.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's Birth Centre on St. Mary's Road will take the human breast milk donations and then send them to Calgary for pasteurization.

The milk will then be used to help premature and sick babies across the country.

"I'm super excited because I know this will benefit babies and women and families," said Monika Warren, the WRHA'sprogram director of child health.

Warren said as many as 275 babies benefit from donor breast milk in Winnipeg hospitals eachyear.

"Often it's because the mom is not able to produce enough milk or she herself has a delayed milk supply coming in for a variety of medical issues," she added.

Winnipeg mother JulieGislason's son was born premature at 2.7 pounds.

She saidbreast milk was her first choice and donated milkhelped when she couldn't provide her own.

"Breast milk has so much more benefits," she said. "I wanted nothing more than to provide breast milk and if Icouldn'tdo it, I wanted to use the donor human milk."

Warren discouragedmothers from donating or getting breast milk throughsocial media sites like Facebook an ideaGislason also advised against.

"I would like them to contact the milk bank and drop it off," Gislason said of potential donors,"And then it makes it available for more families and it can be held and stored safely and used safely."

Warren said the Calgary milk bankis accredited and follows international standards.

Manitoba Health Minister Sharon Blady said today's announcement would create more opportunities for Manitoba moms to contribute breast milk.

The province committed to establishing Manitoba's first milk drop site in 2013.

Now, the Birth Centre has a freezer donated by Winnipeg's Siobhan Richardson Foundation to store the milk before it's sent.

Provincial officials said studies show premature babies who get pasteurized human milk when their mother's own milk isn't available have fewer longer-term health needs.

Women have to contactNorthernStarMothers Milk Bank to be screened before dropping off their donation, and they will also have to undergo blood tests to confirm they qualify as donors.

To donate, the milk bank can be contacted at 1-403-475-6455 or NorthernStarmilkbank.ca.