As the baby grows, a mother’s breast milk changes to adapt to the baby’s changing nutritional needs. In addition, breast milk is much easier for babies to digest than formula.

Human milk has a large number of health benefits for babies, mothers and our society as a whole. For example, the death rate in infants between the ages of one month and one year are reduced by 21% in breastfed infants in the United States.

A mother’s milk should almost be considered a medication that could greatly benefit every newborn.

Studies suggest decreased rates of:

SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

Obesity.

Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Gastrointestinal Diseases.

Ear Infections.

Allergies.

Asthma.

Additionally, strong evidence exists that human milk feedings decrease the incidence and/or severity of a wide range of infectious diseases, including:

Late-onset sepsis in preterm infants (a body-wide infection acquired later than 48 hours after birth, a major risk for premature infants).

Necrotizing enterocolitis (death of internal tissue, a devastating complication of prematurity).

Bacterial meningitis (meningitis caused by bacteria, a life-threatening condition).

Bacteremia (bacteria in the blood).

Respiratory tract infection.

Urinary tract infection.

Otitis media (ear infection).

Diarrhea.

There are also important health benefits of breastfeeding and lactation for mothers, including:

Decreased postpartum bleeding and more rapid return of the uterus to its pre-pregnancy size (known as uterine involution) due to increased concentrations of oxytocin.

Decreased menstrual blood loss and increased child spacing due to natural postnatal infertility (known as lactational amenorrhea).

Earlier return to pre-pregnancy weight.

Decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and depression (mood problems).

Despite its great health benefits for both mom and baby, breast milk remains under-utilized.

Additionally, breastfeeding rates are lower in preterm and low birth weight babies who need it the most. Now is a good time to begin considering your options and look at different resources to help your baby be as healthy as possible.

Human Milk Initiative

The McLeod Human Milk Initiative is a collaborative effort aimed at providing human milk to premature infants weighing less than 1,500 grams (3 pounds, 5 ounces) within the first week of life.

Any baby born weighing less than 1,500 grams in the state of South Carolina is now exclusively fed human milk until they reach 34 weeks post-conceptual age, or after 30 days of treatment, whichever is longer. Sometimes, there is a physiologic delay in a mother’s own milk production, and some mothers are too sick to pump while others simply cannot make enough milk despite their best efforts. Donor milk allows very low birth weight babies to be fed a safe food early, while the mother is working to produce her own milk.

McLeod Regional Medical Center is one of several depot sites for the Mother’s Milk Bank of South Carolina.

Each depot site receives milk from its local donors, which is gathered and sent to the Mother’s Milk Bank. The donated milk is then tested for infection, pasteurized, tested for infection again and analyzed to assure quality. The milk is then batched and frozen.

Every one to two weeks, shipments of the donor milk are sent back to each of the Regional Perinatal Centers in South Carolina, including McLeod Regional Medical Center.

Board certified in neonatology and pediatrics, Dr. Joseph Harlan completed his medical degree at Bowman Gray School of Medicine as well as a Neonatology Residency at North Carolina Baptist Hospital, both in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Harlan also completed a Neonatology Fellowship at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia. Harlan cares for patients in the McLeod Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).