The World Health Organization and Adventist Medical Center are asking for human breast milk donations to be sent to Adventist Medical Center's breast milk donor depot to aide young victims of the Haiti earthquake. Human milk is vital to improving the health of premature and sick children.

To become a donor, lactating mothers must follow this process:
 

1. Contact the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) at    1-866-998-4550 to be pre-screened via phone.
 

2. If approved by the HMBANA, the mother should then contact her OBGYN and pediatrician for approval and to get a blood test done.

3. The mother's milk should then be delivered to Adventist Medical Center's Family Birth Place at 10123 SE Market St., Portland, Ore., 503-251-MAMA (6262).

"In the case of premature and sick children, human milk is particularly critical to improving health outcomes," said Peggy Andrews, registered nurse and lactation consultant at Adventist Medical Center. "There is a critical shortage of breast milk in the United States and especially in Haiti; any donations of viable breast milk are appreciated."

All breast milk donations are screened and pasteurized before delivery.

Adventist Medical Center's breast milk donor depot opened in August 2009 as the first donor depot in Portland, and was one of only two donor depots in the Pacific Northwest. The depot is prepared to accept donations from qualified mothers.

About Adventist Medical Center
Adventist Medical Center (AMC), located in southeast Portland, Ore., is a nonprofit, 302-bed acute care facility, offering a full range of inpatient, outpatient and emergency services throughout the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.  The faith-based health system prides its self on providing care you can have faith in and is home to the Northwest Regional Heart Center (NRHC), respected nationally for their care of cardiac patients.

Adventist Medical Center is part of Adventist Health, a not-for-profit, faith-based health system operating in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Founded on the Seventh-day Adventist heritage of Christian health care, Adventist Health is comprised of 18 hospitals with more than 2,800 beds, nearly 18,000 employees, numerous clinics and outpatient facilities, the largest system of rural health clinics in California, 15 home care agencies and three joint-venture retirement centers with a fourth on the way. For more information, visit www.adventisthealthnw.com or www.adventisthealth.org.

###