At first she chalked it up to her daughter Sydney being colicky after breast-feeding. But when Sydney let loose "the most awful noise," Stacie Quatsoe, 34, of Mt. Vernon, Wash., knew something else was wrong.
After ruling out acid reflux, Quatsoe thought maybe the culprit was dairy products. So she stopped eating them to see if that would make a difference when she breast-fed Sydney. "She turned into a new baby within two days," said Quatsoe, who also has a 2 1/2-year-old son.
However, that meant the breast milk Quatsoe had pumped and frozen before realizing Sydney could not tolerate dairy was no good for the baby. "I had over 5 gallons or 46 pounds of milk," said Quatsoe. "It was a lot, and I hated to see it go to waste."
Thankfully, that didn't happen. Instead, Quatsoe was able to donate all of her excess milk to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett in Washington.
In April, the hospital began a program to collect breast milk for sick babies and for medically fragile premies with mothers who cannot produce their own.
Milk banks and "depots," as they are called, have existed in North America since 1910, but they have not spread to every city or region. Providence Everett is the first hospital in the Puget Sound region to accept donations of mothers' milk.
Another CHA member, Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, also recently began a milk donor program and is one of only three hospitals in Maryland to have one.
"Milk banks are an old concept, but most people don't know about them unless they are lactating," said Laraine Borman, director of the Mothers' Milk Bank in Denver. It is one of 11 nonprofit centers nationwide and in Canada that form the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
Powerful elixir
Dr. Isabella Knox, associate medical director for Providence's neonatal intensive care unit, refers to breast milk as "liquid gold" for newborns.
"Why is mother's milk so important? Let me count the ways," Knox said. "It's important because it prevents infections, allergies, asthma, childhood obesity and diabetes, childhood leukemia, SIDS and inflammatory bowel disease, just to name a few. But it is especially important for medically fragile, preterm babies."
In addition to other diseases, Knox explained that preterm infants are often vulnerable to necrotizing enterocolitis, a devastating and potentially deadly gastrointestinal condition that causes destruction of the bowel. "Numerous studies show that feeding these babies with mother's milk almost eliminates the chances of them getting NEC," Knox added.
Of the 500 infants treated each year at Providence Everett's neonatal intensive care unit, at least a third could benefit from donated mother's milk, said Patricia Freeburg, an advanced registered nurse practitioner at the hospital, who helped spearhead the milk donor program there.
Typically in hospitals around the country, preterm infants whose mothers are too sick to nurse, or cannot produce milk, are given formula. Yet that may change as awareness of the importance of breast milk continues to grow. In February, the American
Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement emphasizing that "exclusive breast-feeding" is best for the first six months of life, followed by breast-feeding in combination with foods until the baby is about a year old.
The pediatrics academy also reported that 900 infant lives per year could be saved in the United States if 90 percent of mothers exclusively breast-fed for six months.
Knox said that while nothing is a substitute for a mother nursing her own baby, donated breast milk is the next best thing. "There are still hundreds of chemicals in human milk that fight infection," she said. "Donated milk is a much better alternative to formula."
Whether a baby continues to get the donated milk after he or she goes home depends on the doctor's orders and the family. Some do, though most don't. However, even short-term the benefits of mother's milk are significant.
Waste not
Since the program began at Providence Everett, 13 women have donated a total of 37.5 gallons of milk or 4,800 ounces. "When these extremely premature infants have their first feeding, they may take 2 or 3 milliliters," said Providence's Freeburg. "So 1 ounce of milk can feed anywhere from 10 to 15 babies."
Potential donors at Providence Everett undergo a screening process, which includes a blood test to check for HIV and hepatitis B and C. They also are asked to donate at least 150 ounces; Quatsoe's 5 gallons was equal to 640 ounces.
Freeburg said setting up the milk depot was relatively easy and inexpensive. The milk bank in Denver supplies the packaging material; the freezer at Providence used to store the milk was donated, and hospital volunteers staff the depot on Monday afternoons, when donations take place. "The main expense is dry ice to keep the milk cold during shipping," she said.
Donated milk is packaged in roughly 50, 5-ounce bags before it's shipped overnight to Denver. There, it is pasteurized to kill bacteria and screened. Then Denver ships the milk back to hospitals that need it, charging $3.50 an ounce to cover the cost of shipping, processing and screening.
Freeburg said support for the program has been "incredible" both from hospital staff and donors. "This program perfectly mirrors our mission to care for the vulnerable through compassionate service," she said. "Donors are so happy they can contribute extra milk because they are strong proponents of breast-feeding. They don't want to throw out their milk when they know it can benefit another baby."
Quatsoe echoed those sentiments and added: "When I had my first baby, I didn't realize how precious mother's milk is. I would pump and dump (any excess). Then I did some research and found out about the depot at Providence.
"I was just so happy to help other moms who want to nurse but can't, and their babies."