Bronx pol Amanda Farias eyes NYC ‘human milk bank’ to feed infants
Got Milk? Breast milk, that is.
A Bronx lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require the New York City government to create a “municipal human milk bank” to collect, store and distribute donated breast milk to feed babies.
The bill, sponsored by Councilwoman Amanda Farias, would allow mothers to donate their extra breast milk to help other premature babies in prenatal care or to babies whose moms cannot produce sufficient milk during breastfeeding, for example.
Farias’ bill, were it to become law, would require the city Health Department or other agency designated by Mayor Eric Adams “to take all necessary steps to obtain any required licenses or approvals to establish and operate a human milk bank.”
“The human milk bank would collect, process, store, and distribute breast milk for infants and children,” the Democratic majority leader’s brief summary of the measure said.
Currently, there is only one licensed breast milk donation center in New York State — The New York Milk Bank, a not-for-profit group Westchester County’s Valhalla, just north of The Big Apple.
There are only 33 human breast milk donation banks in all of the United States and Canada, according to the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
Farias, the Council majority leader, told The Post Sunday she started thinking more broadly about infant milk after the severe shortage of baby formula that left store shelves empty in the tri-state area and the US as a whole two years ago.
“We’re not providing enough options for mothers and babies,” Farias said.
“I know mothers who’ve had difficulty producing breast milk. Breast milk provides the foundation for an infant’s health. There are loads of families that would benefit if we create a human milk bank.”
She believes if her bill becomes law, the Big Apple would be the first city to run its own human milk bank.
“I want to see what the administration and health commissioner have to say and what the advocates have to say about the bill,” Farias said.
The head of the NY Milk Bank said she had not been aware of the Faras’ proposal — introduced in December — to create a city-run human milk bank. But she welcomed the idea as more, the merrier.
“It’s the most generous gift you can give,” Milk Bank executive director Rachel Granger said of nutritious breast milk. “We can use more support to get more milk to babies.”
The Valhalla-based center, which opened in 2016, has screened more than 5,000 donors and distributed more than one million ounces of donated breast milk since its inception. It has 26 locations throughout the state where mothers can donate their milk, which it pasteurizes.
“Human Milk provides an ideal combination of nutrients, as well as important antibodies. These components cannot be completely replicated in any other source of nutrition. For premature and medically fragile babies, it can be a medical necessity,” the NY Milk Bank says on its website.
The donated milk goes to infants who don’t digest formula, babies whose mothers have insufficient supply, and for adopted, foster or surrogate babies.
A doctor’s prescription is required for a baby released home from the hospital
The Milk Center charges a processing fee of $4.90 per ounce to help offset the costs required to make donor milk safe and nourishing — including collecting, bottling, pasteurizing, testing, and storing each precious ounce.
The minimum donation is 100 ounces.
Medicaid covers donor milk for hospital patients.
“We are working hard to ensure coverage for outpatients on a case-by-case basis,” the Milk Center said.
A City Hall spokesperson said the administration would review Farias’ measure to start a breast milk bank.
