Cumberland Medical Center has partnered with Mothers’ Milk Bank of Tennessee to open a Milk Drop Depot location at its facility.
The site opened May 23 and gives mothers a place to donate extra breast milk that benefits local infants in intensive care.
According to Mothers’ Milk Bank, an estimated 60% of NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) mothers are unable to breastfeed. Human milk contains extra nutrients that can help lower the risk of developing lung disease, sepsis, retinopathy of prematurity and necrotizing enterocolitis in premature or medically fragile infants.
“We at Cumberland Medical Center labor and delivery are so proud to introduce this service to mothers of Crossville and surrounding communities,” said Dana Ragle, MSN/Ed, MBA, BSN, RN, labor and delivery nurse manager. “Our goal at Cumberland is to ensure the very best care for our patients, and the addition of the Mothers’ Milk Bank will allow mothers in the community to donate their breastmilk for other babies in need.”
“Making the Mothers’ Milk Drop Depot available to this community is yet another example of our labor and delivery team striving to provide the best care to mothers and newborns,” said Randy Davis, president and chief administrative officer of Cumberland Medical Center. “I am proud of this team and the incredible work they do every day.”
Mothers’ Milk Bank of Tennessee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit milk bank dedicated to providing safe, pasteurized donor human milk to the most vulnerable babies. The organization filters, mixes, bottles, pasteurizes and cultures donated breast milk from approved donors before distributing the donor milk to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Tennessee.
To learn more about donor screening and requirements, visit milkbanktn.org.
The drop off donation site is located at Cumberland Medical Center’s labor and delivery department at 421 S. Main Streetin Crossville.
To learn more about labor and delivery at Cumberland Medical Center, visit our maternity services webpage.