BOTTLE NECK

Breast Milk Banks Inundated With Requests Fueled by Formula Shortage

Nonprofits seeing a monumental increase in requests by parents of infants.

A growing shortage of baby formula due to contamination at a Michigan facility in February has led to what Lindsey Groff of the Human Milk Bank Association of North America calls a “major surge in interest” in breast-milk banks. “Every milk bank that I have spoken with has seen a major increase in demand,” Groff told NBC News. Nonprofit breast-milk banks accredited by the association give priority to preemies and medically fragile newborns in neonatal ICU wards, but Groff says there has been a monumental increase in requests by parents of full-term infants. Donations of breast milk have also increased to meet the need, adds Groff, who says that all milk banks screen donors through questionnaires, doctor’s notes, and blood tests. All donated breast milk is then tested and pasteurized. “Everyone is aware of donating blood and organs, even hair. But there is very little known about donating breast milk,” Groff said. “What we hope is that people are becoming more aware of the ability to donate breast milk in this time of crisis.”