Milk Bank technicians nourish our tiniest NICU infants to health

August 19, 2014

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Imagine preparing more than 600 syringes or bottles of milk every day for an average of 80 hungry infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Texas Children’s Newborn Center. That’s roughly eight feedings per day for each baby in the NICU who receives human milk prepared by the Milk Bank.

Preparing milk for these fragile newborns is more than just pouring it into a bottle. Our Milk Bank technicians follow strict procedures and high quality standards to ensure the right milk is delivered to the right baby.

“It’s one of the hardest jobs to fill because it requires meticulous attention to detail, exceptional math skills, the ability to multi-task and follow procedural guidelines at the same time,” said Kristina Tucker, manager of Texas Children’s Lactation and Milk Bank Services. “Our technicians spend most of their time on their feet preparing the milk that will nourish our tiniest and most vulnerable NICU patients.”

82014MilkBankinside640After the mothers’ expressed milk is delivered to the Milk Bank on either the fourth floor of the West Tower or the eighth floor of Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, our technicians verify the information on the labeled bottles, scan it into the system, and store the mother’s breast milk and pasteurized donor milk in large freezers and refrigerators until they are ready for use.

Every day is a busy day at the Milk Bank. From the time our technicians begin their 10-hour shift at 7:30 a.m., they’re working around the clock to ensure all feed orders from physicians are filled and ready for delivery to the NICU at 5 p.m. Despite working in a fast-paced environment, there is no room for error. Every order, which contains the physician’s instructions, is examined numerous times before the milk bottles and syringes are sent to the NICU nurses who feed the babies.

“Sometimes physicians will request that certain fortification products be added to the milk,” said Michelle Jones, a Milk Bank technician at Texas Children’s. “Since each baby’s nutritional needs are different, our primary goal is to make sure the babies receive the right fortified milk which is critical to their care.”

When fortifying the milk, technicians may add complex proteins, carbohydrates and minerals including Prolacta® products which include a cream supplement made from human milk fat that is added to the diet of premature infants who weigh less than 3.3 pounds. These products are derived from pasteurized donor breast milk and when added to mother’s own milk, provide an exclusive human milk diet for these small, vulnerable infants thereby protecting them from infection and disease.

“Most premature babies require these additional additives to help them grow,” said Nancy Hurst, director of Women’s Support Services at Texas Children’s. “The fortifiers add calories and nutrients to the milk without changing the volume since premature babies can tolerate only a certain amount of feedings.”

Once the milk is mixed, prepared and delivered to the NICU, the mission is accomplished.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many hours these Milk Bank technicians work or how much their feet hurt from standing all day. What matters the most to them is that all the babies receiving breast milk have been fed.

“It’s all about feeding the babies,” said Jones, who has worked at Texas Children’s Milk Bank for eight years. “It brings me great joy to see the positive impact that my colleagues and I have on these infants, and the trust that the parents have in us to ensure their babies’ nutritional needs are met.”

KTRK recently spotlighted a Houston-area family whose NICU baby benefited from Texas Children’s Milk Bank services. Click here to watch the video.

For more information on how to donate breast milk to the Milk Bank, click here.