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News and Events
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9th Anniversary Celebration Luncheon Thursday, September 12 at 11:30am Ridglea Country Club 3700 Bernie Anderson Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76116 SAVE THE DATE and send us your MAILING ADDRESS so we can add you to our guest list- moms@texasmilkbank.org
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Greetings!
 It's summertime! We hope you are staying cool and enjoying the summer. This month MOMS CONNECT features a wonderful story about Texas mother, Melakeh McDonald, whose son is a donor human milk recipient of ours. Our main article highlights our pasteurization lab's Milk-o-Scan while COMMUNITY PARTNERS includes a Q&A from Diane Bohman, a NICU Lactation Consultant at Cook Children's Medical Center. Finally, be sure to check out the "Summer Fun in the Sun" pictures submitted by our FACEBOOK FRIENDS. Thanks for all that you do, Amy |
Measuring Nutrition in Breastmilk: Foss FT 120 Milk-o-Scan
|  We're often asked how we actually process donor human milk and what is the technology we use in our lab to fill NICU prescriptions with nutritionally-analyzed milk. For the past three and a half years Shaina Starks-Solis has overseen the production lab at the Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas.
Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas lab technicians, hospitals and fragile babies depend on this machine's analysis results. As Production Manager, Shaina not only understands the technology behind our Foss FT 129 Milk-o-Scan located in our pasteurization lab, she also manages and guides our lab technicians so that they too can use the Milk-o-Scan to measure the fat, protein and lactose in pasteurized donor milk that is prepared for babies before it is shipped out to hospitals.
The FT 120 milk-o-scan is a full-range infrared spectroscopy dairy analyzer. It uses Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), a technique where lightwave technology simultaneously collects a wide range of data, reporting back specific absorption rates to a computer terminal. In our lab, FTIR is used to identify organic materials, found in the components of human milk. The machine is calibrated to USDA Federal Milk Market standards, determining the fat, protein and lactose in each human milk sample.
Our lab technicians retrieve analysis from the Milk-o-Scan that allows us to report to hospitals the exact calorie content and nutritional protein of each shipment of donor human milk.
We know donor human milk varies in nutrients from donor to donor. And we know it is beneficial for physicians to prescribe the donor human milk based on a baby's individual needs.
We agree that it is important that the beneficiaries of this donor human milk, typically premature and critically ill infants receive the amount of calories and protein each baby needs for his or her growth and development. Therefore, we take the time to effectively use our FT 120 Milk-o-Scan on each batch pooled donor human milk we process and then send it out to hospitals.
Want to learn more about our process? Click here to watch our Executive Director Amy Vickers describe the process on The Doctors.
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 Facebook Friends Share Photos
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Each month we share photos from our Facebook Friends. This month we asked you to send us Summer Fun in the Sun photos!
 | | Amanda Moran's children, Micah and Piper take a splash in the sprinkler. |
 | | Kristen Moore tells us that baby Austin loves the beach! |
 | | Molly Sandlin's son, Ethan, enjoys a big slice of watermelon. |
 | | Jordan and Georgia Snyder cool down with popsicles on a summer day. |
 | | Peyton Wilson has fun in the water at the Dallas Zoo! |
Want to be our Facebook friend? Click here to visit our Facebook Page and LIKE us today! Thank you!!
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| Community Partners - Q&A with NICU Lactation Consultant at Cook Children's Medical Center, Diane Bonham, BSN, RN, IBCLC, RLC |
Diane Bonham serves not only as a NICU Lactation Consultant at Cook Children's, but also as a Board Member at Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas. We are thankful for her expert knowledge and support she lends to the community and the Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas. Q: What is the primary role of a lactation consultant? The primary role of a lactation consultant is to help mothers achieve their breastfeeding goals. We offer assistance and encouragement to mothers during difficult breastfeeding times, so they can continue to nurture their children with the benefits of breastfeeding. Q: Why would a mother need a lactation consultant? Lactation Consultants can help a new mother and baby with breastfeeding, assist a mother who is having difficulty breastfeeding or managing her breastmilk supply, or even help mothers wean their child from breastfeeding. By offering encouragement and support combined with expert knowledge, Lactation Consultants assist mothers to achieve their breastfeeding goals. Q: Why is it important to seek the advice of a lactation consultant? Certified Lactation Consultants are breastfeeding experts. We are required to maintain a certain number of educational hours to achieve certification and remain certified. Our knowledge and advice comes from current evidence-based information that will benefit the mother and child the most. If a mother needs breastfeeding advice or support, then she should contact a Board Certified Lactation Consultant who can answer questions, serve as a resource and help her overcome any difficulty she's encountering while breastfeeding. Q: Where/how can mothers get in contact with a lactation consultant? Mothers can go to the International Lactation Consultant Association's website and find a consultant that services their area. They may also contact LeLeche League International by phone 800-laleche (800-525-3243) or visit their website. If the mom is a WIC recipient then she can seek help at her local WIC office. Parents can also read basic breastfeeding instructions and information on Cook Children's Medical Center website. |
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Moms Connect
| Melakeh McDonald
McKinney, TX
On January 17, 2013 my son Easton was born a happy, beautiful baby. Within a few weeks, his entire demeanor changed. Without any answers we felt frustrated.
Today, thanks to Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas, we see his smile again.
 When my son was born I was able to breastfeed him for only several days due to medical issues. I wasn't able to supply enough breastmilk for my growing baby and our doctors wanted us to feed him formula. We did and he soon began to cry all the time. Easton's eyes were watering and his nose was running. On top of that, only a week and a half after leaving the hospital he contracted an upper respiratory infection. This resulted in a trip to the emergency room and antibiotics that he did not react well to.
Easton would have another respiratory infection before he turned two months old. His oxygen levels were extremely low and he was almost hospitalized. At this point I was giving him steroid nebulizer treatments every three hours to keep him well. I felt so hopeless because I didn't know how to make my baby boy feel better.
I contacted Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas in the first weeks of Easton's life because I knew I was not able to breastfeed him, but I wanted to give him the nutritional benefits of breastmilk. Because I had a supply I decided while he was sick I would feed him exclusively with the donor breastmilk in hopes he would become stronger and fight the infection.
Within days of feeding Easton donor human milk from Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas, his symptoms went away. Once he was well, I integrated formula back into his feeding schedule because I did not want to use up the entire supply of my donor human milk.
Immediately, Easton's eyes started watering, nose running and he would literally push the bottle of formula away. We went back to the doctor and confirmed that Easton had a rare and severe allergy to formula. It was causing Easton to have excess mucus production, creating a prime breeding ground for viruses and bacteria. After feeding trials our doctors determined that donor human milk was the only nutrition he could tolerate and ingest allowing him to maintain proper health and respiratory function. He now eats like a champ.
Easton is now four months old and exclusively fed with donor human milk from the Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas. Our doctor remarks on how happy he is and how well he is growing. He is once again our happy baby.
I am so thankful to the Milk Bank for the miracle of donor human milk.
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