Jefferson County, Colorado – Jefferson County Public Health is happy to announce it is opening a mothers’ milk donation and outreach center at its WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Program’s Lakewood location, 645 Parfet Street, Lakewood, CO 80215. This is the first WIC Program in Colorado to host a milk donation and outreach center. JCPH WIC partnered with Arvada-based Mothers’ Milk Bank (MMB) to make this service available for all moms wishing to donate milk locally to help save lives. The service will benefit women and babies throughout Jefferson County and nationwide. “There can be many reasons why a mother may not be able to provide breast milk for her baby and we know human breast milk provides important nutritional benefits as well as a decreased risk of a wide range of illnesses and infections,” says JCPH Breastfeeding Specialist, Kelsey Rivera, RD, IBCLC. “This new milk donation and outreach center will help families ensure babies get the best possible start in life by providing pasteurized donor breast milk an infant needs to not only survive, but thrive.” According to the MMB, one ounce of donor human milk can feed an infant in neonatal intensive care (NICU) for a full day.
Local moms with extra breast milk can make a difference in the health of newborns and infants by donating their milk to the new donation and outreach center. Women interested in giving the gift of human milk are asked to fill out the donation screening form on MMB’s website, www.milkbankcolorado.org, or call 303-869-1888. After initial screening, women are asked to schedule an appointment at the JCPH clinic to have a one-time blood draw. Once approved as a donor, women will be able to drop off their milk during WIC clinic hours with no appointment needed. The milk will be stored safely in a freezer at WIC until the MMB is able to collect. The milk donations will then be safely transported to the Arvada facility where it will be pasteurized and distributed to babies across the country whose mothers cannot supply sufficient milk for their needs.
About Mothers’ Milk Bank
A nonprofit, Colorado-based, program of Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation, MMB, collects, processes and provides human donor milk to babies across the country. MMB consistently provides more milk to NICUs than any other nonprofit milk bank in North America and adheres to the strict guidelines of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA).
JCPH Hours of Service
Donors can call the JCPH clinic at 645 Parfet Street in Lakewood, (303) 239-7050 or (303) 239-7058 to schedule an appointment for their one time blood draw during regular clinic hours: M, W, F (8-5 PM); Tues (8-12 PM); Thurs (9-6 PM).
Donors can drop off their milk during WIC clinic hours, no appointments are needed: Mon & Wed (8-6 PM); Tues & Fri (7:30 – 3:30 PM); Thurs (8-5 PM).
WIC Donation and Outreach Site Opening Celebration-May 4, 2016
JCPH and MMB will be hosting a launch celebration of the new breast milk donation and outreach site at Jefferson County Public Health, 645 Parfet Street in the Mt. Bierstadt Room on May 4, 2016 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.. Anyone interested in learning more about milk donation or the JCPH WIC Program is invited to attend.
For more information:
- JCPH WIC/Mothers’ Milk Bank donation and outreach center – Kelsey Rivera, 303-239-7139 or krivera@jeffco.us.
- View the JCPH WIC Program web page.
- Mothers’ Milk Bank – Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation/Mothers’ Milk Bank
720-507-0903 or mothersmilkbank@rmchildren.org
