San Jose agencies host breast milk drive as supplies reach all-time low

SAN JOSE, Calif (KGO) -- Employees at Mothers' Milk Bank of San Jose say they are up against an all-time shortage of breast milk, but demand for the resource remains high.

Mothers' Milk Bank is a charter member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA). Its mission is to enhance the availability and use of breast milk for all babies.

On Wednesday, the milk bank will partner with the Gardner Family Care and its WIC office to bring the first breast milk drive to Santa Clara County to help babies.

The event coincides with National Breastfeeding Month.

Mothers' Milk Bank regards its standards of processing donated breast milk as the "gold standard" of operation for milk banking organizations.

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In a release, Mothers' Milk Bank explained California physicians, including those in the Bay Area, are ordering donor human milk for babies in serious medical need.

The milk bank says breast and donor human milk are the optimal nutrition of choice for the most fragile and vulnerable infants in the NICU.

Beyond hospital treatment, breast milk and donor human milk are needed at discharge so infants can be home with their families.

Wednesday's first breast milk drive will ultimately benefit babies, mothers and families. The event will also provide what involved agencies say are much needed resources to health care professionals.

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