See also Breastfeeding your hospitalized baby Pumping Pump Rental

OUR SERVICES AND SUPPORT
Mother's Own Milk Bank

Texas Children’s Mother’s Own Milk Bank is a state-of-the-art collection, labeling, refrigeration and dispensing center that stores and prepares deposited breast milk to feed infants in the Newborn Center nurseries.

The Milk Bank is surrounded by comfortable, private rooms where mothers can use hospital-provided breast pumps and collection bottles 24/7. Nurses are available to counsel mothers about lactation problems and to evaluate whether the mom may be too sick to give milk or is taking medications that might not be safe for her baby. Rental pumps are available for home use.

After expressing their milk, mothers bring it to the Milk Bank where it is stored in large commercial grade freezers/refrigerators. Technicians who are specially trained in the handling of expressed breast milk monitor the mother's collection technique, prepare the milk for feeding, add fortification to the milk as ordered by the physician and deliver the prepared milk to the infant areas.

Nurses who are board-certified lactation consultants, as well as peer counselors, are available to offer advice and support to mothers about their pumping schedules and milk production. The lactation consultants also are available to help evaluate the safety of any medications the mother may be taking and their possible transfer to her baby through her breast milk.

Experienced, thorough lactation support technicians prepare every syringe and bottle sent to nurseries - more than 100,000 meals annually - ensuring they are properly matched with the right infant.