Over the last six years, the Rotary Community Breast Milk Bank has helped 3000 mothers and babies access essential nutrition for newborns. The Milk Bank is based at St George’s Hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand. The donated breast milk is pasteurised and given to parents and caregivers free of charge.
“It really is the most amazing project to bring people together and enhance the health of babies and support women in our community,” says Liz Courtney, a Past District Governor for Rotary.
When local mother, Anika Hawken, found her baby was rapidly losing weight, she became a recipient of donor milk from the Milk Bank. This community resource helped provide her baby with essential nutrients.
“My baby wasn’t latching well… [and] lost a lot of weight very quickly. He luckily had the donor milk to be able to supplement what I was producing,” Anika explained. “Having had that experience of being a recipient of milk, I knew right away I wanted to donate when I could.” Since then, Anika has become a donor to support new mothers in the community.
The Rotary Community Breast Milk Bank “is incredible. It supports mums with their breastfeeding but also provides milk for some of the late preterm babies and the unwell babies in the hospital as well,” says Claire Vivian, a neonatologist and lactation consultant. It really “gives them the best start in term of their immunity and their gut health.”
To read more about the Rotary Community Breast Milk Bank, visit https://www.themilkbank.nz/.
Get involved
Local to Christchurch and want to get involved with Rotary? Get in touch with Liz Courtney by emailing lizcourtney.lc@gmail.com
If you'd like to make a financial donation to support the Milk Bank, follow this link.