Cottage Hospital Holding Breast Milk Donor Drive

Cottage Hospital is calling on nursing moms to donate breast milk for babies born prematurely. This Friday, the hospital will hold its first breast milk donor drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Women’s Services conference room.

Sometimes, mothers who deliver babies prematurely cannot produce enough milk, which doctors say is crucial to protect fragile infants and help prevent a fatal condition called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). According to Cottage spokesperson Maria Zate, babies born less than 1,800 grams need the donated milk because their mothers are not able to produce enough for them.

San Jose-based Mother’s Milk Bank — the only such organization on the West Coast and one of four in the country — has helped supply Cottage with donated breast milk for the past three years, but lately it has been experiencing a shortage and Cottage is having a harder time getting the supplies needed in the Neonate Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Last year, 11 infants less than 32 weeks old received donor milk at Cottage.

For more information, call 569-8250.