New breast milk drop site opens in Grande Prairie

GRANDE PRAIRIE – Alberta Health Services (AHS) and NorthernStar Mothers Milk Bank are excited to announce the opening of NorthernStar Mothers Milk Bank Grande Prairie Milk Drop.

Located in the Grande Prairie Public Health Centre (10320 99 St.), the milk drop will serve as a site for approved breastfeeding mothers to drop off their milk, which is then sent to Calgary to be pasteurized and distributed to sick babies in hospitals and communities across Canada.

“We are thrilled to be working alongside NorthernStar Mothers Milk Bank on this initiative,” says Donna Matier, AHS Public Health Area Manager for Grande Prairie.

“Grande Prairie is a young, growing community and we know many mothers will be interested in participating in this important, life-changing donor program. Scientific research supports that babies who receive donor human milk become stronger and more resilient, reducing their time in hospital and reducing the likelihood of being sicker as children and adults.”

NorthernStar Mothers Milk Bank is Canada’s only community-based milk bank. As advocates and champions for healthy babies, the agency’s goal is to connect donor human milk with as many sick and fragile babies as possible. As a charitable organization, NorthernStar screens breastfeeding mothers as milk donors, accepting their milk as donations to be pasteurized in their laboratory and dispensed to sick babies. Milk is triaged, ensuring the sickest babies receive the milk first.

Donors are not compensated for their milk; rather, they give to support those babies who critically need the life-saving elements of donor human milk. This year, the milk bank will dispense more than 130,000 ounces (more than 1,000 gallons) of donor human milk. Premature babies who spend time in the NICU depend on human milk for its life-saving benefits.

“The Grande Prairie Milk Drop location is one of 11 drop locations to open in the Prairie provinces,” says Jannette Festival, Executive Director of the NorthernStar Mothers Milk Bank. “In opening this drop location, we hope to encourage Grande Prairie mothers to participate in something that changes lives: milk banking. Indeed, every precious drop counts to sick and fragile babies and Grande Prairie women who are breastfeeding have the opportunity to help.”

For more information about the milk bank and how to become a donor, visit the milk bank’s website at northernstarmilkbank.ca. For more information about Grande Prairie’s Milk Drop hours, please call 780-513-7500.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.

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