Milk Bank at Witham Health Services

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, human milk is the standard food for all infants including premature and sick infants. Human milk provides optimal nutrition and unique health benefits that last beyond infancy.

Witham expanded its partnership with The Milk Bank in 2017 by becoming the first Milk Depot in our county. By becoming a Milk Depot, Witham is able to support mothers who want to help other babies in need. Some will donate because they want to share, while others might donate to help with grief. Regardless of their reason, every mother who donates to Witham’s milk depot will be greeted with a familiar face in a familiar environment and with a sincere thank you from our Maternity staff. To Witham, becoming a Milk Depot is not only about being a convenient location for collecting donations, but also about befriending and supporting local mothers, listening to their stories and their personal reasons to give, and about raising awareness on the benefits of human milk for all babies in our community.

Witham also offers free Breastfeeding and Childbirth Education classes and we hold monthly support groups for mother’s to connect and discuss infant-related topics. Our hospital is also one of few that offers human donor milk to babies in need.

Breast feeding has so many benefits for our families: Breastfeeding is an opportunity for close bonding between mother and baby. It helps newborns fight off infections by transferring antibodies from mother to baby. Children who breast feed are less likely to get ear infections, pneumonia, and obesity. For the moms, there are benefits too: women who breast feed may have lower rates of both ovarian and some types of breast cancer!

Witham assists in helping mothers transition back to work after the birth of their baby and their options for continuing to meet their breastfeeding goals. Witham views the benefits of breastfeeding as a way to increase our community’s health as a whole. As a community, we are making great strides getting mother’s connected to the appropriate resources to ensure they are well supported after the birth of their babies. Boone County offers a variety of support groups to assist new mothers with the transition into motherhood, a safe sleep program at the Boone County Health Department that includes breastfeeding information as a way to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Women Infant & Children programs that can assist with breastfeeding. The “Milk Depot” in Boone County will provide an additional resource to breastfeeding mothers and allow them to give back to our community and babies in need.

Please help us spread awareness of the benefits of human milk and the milk depot in Boone County. We hope to encourage local mothers to seek support, offer guidance and give back to future generations. These donations to The Milk Bank will go a long way toward keeping our community’s children healthy. There are so many times when breastfeeding is difficult for families. Providing donated breast milk can make the difference.

The milk collection site is located at Witham Hospital: Lactation Office; 2605 N. Lebanon Street, Lebanon Indiana 46052. It provides a convenient drop-off for women to donate their excess breast milk. After donations are received at our hospital, they will be sent to The Indiana Milk Bank for processing and then delivered to fragile infants in need.

For more information about becoming a milk donor please visit the Indiana Milk Banks website at www.themilkbank.org or call 317-536-1670.