Prolacta's Utah campaign nets 50 applications in two months

The Utah Valley University student newspaper sheds more light on Prolacta's targeting of mothers in the state of Utah for milk donations.

"Helping Hands has been campaigning in Utah since September and has already received over 50 applications from mothers wanting to donate their extra breast milk. Kosmont says that Helping Hands was interested in coming to Utah because “Utah is fundamentally a very service-oriented state.”"

Helping Hands offers mothers a way to serve | UVU Review

'Unsafe medically and dangerous legally" - HMBANA on #milksharing

The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) is again calling on every healthy, breastfeeding moms to offer to donate. Requests from hospitals are up and now make up 75 per cent of their orders, up from 60 per cent just last year. Milk banks distributed 1.8 million ounces last year, less than a quarter of the 8 million needed according to HMBANA.

HMBANA president Kim Updegrove says,

"All babies should receive human milk. But because it's a scarce resource, we prioritize it for preterm infants in neonatal intensive care who weigh three pounds or less," said Updegrove. "These babies respond the best in terms of decreased infection rates and shorter hospital stays."

This ABC news item says while the cost to donate is covered by milk banks, costs are passed on to recipients. ABC says this leaves families turning to informal sharing, a practice HMBANA's head calls "unsafe medically and dangerous legally."

Breast Milk Banks Struggle to Meet Demand - ABC News

Milksharing experiences with HM4HB in Tennessee

This article explores reasons why moms reach out for donor milk, and also notes one donor mom who experienced difficulty getting information from milk banks on how to donate and found it easier to connect directly with moms online. The article also notes Facebook is making it easy for recipients to discover "online communities of nursing mothers willing to share their abundant supply."

Online communities allow Memphis-area nursing women to share milk supply - The Commercial Appeal: "The midwives said it was the biggest baby they'd delivered at home," said mom Emmalee Slimski, a 32-year-old child care provider in Bartlett.

So it was a punch in her maternal gut when at her daughter's 7-month checkup, she was told her baby was failing to thrive.

One of her breasts had stopped lactating and the other couldn't produce enough milk to keep her baby's weight up.

"I felt defeated and I really didn't want to go to formula," Slimski said.

Filled with anxiety, she reached out to a group of like-minded breast-feeding moms on Facebook, called Alternamamas of Memphis.

Moments after posting her story, a friend offered to drop off a stockpile of her own breast milk....

Prolacta secures funding for 2nd facility and larger sales force

Prolacta secures funding for second processing facility and larger sales force:

Prolacta Bioscience(R) Secures Series D Funding from Health Evolution Partners - MarketWatch: Prolacta Bioscience(R) Secures Series D Funding from Health Evolution Partners
-- New Members Added to Prolacta Board of Directors --
MONROVIA, Calif., Nov 03, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Prolacta Bioscience, the first and only company to offer human milk fortifier (HMF) made from 100% human breast milk for critically ill, premature infants, has announced that they have secured Series D funding from Health Evolution Partners (HEP). HEP invests in rapidly growing companies that are commercial leaders in the healthcare industry. The funding will be used primarily to fund a second facility and to support growth of Prolacta's sales organization....