Blackwell Baby Cafe advisory board members are pictured cutting the ribbon on the first Breast Milk Depot in Chautauqua County. From left are Gaye Huggard, Mayor Eddie Sandquist, Glenda Garland, Karen Neal and Debbie Robbins. Seated is Catherine Harrison. Lena Knuth is pictured behind Harrison followed by Angelica Peck-Rogers, Dave Wilfong, Tonia Mosher and Pastor Marion Battle. Submitted photo

Baby Cafe is further expanding on its mission of helping mothers and babies by becoming an official breast milk depot.

A breast milk depot is run through the New York State Milk Bank and provides breast milk for critically ill or underweight babies who need it. All milk at these banks is donated by mothers who have too much breast milk and are willing to donate.

Baby Cafe just recently got its license and, following a training that took place on Dec. 1, will be able to accept all donated breast milk from area mothers who have the proper identification.

“One of our goals was looking at babies born critically ill or with a low birthweight,” said Catherine Harrison, grant writer for Baby Cafe. “We talked to the New York State Milk Bank and said, ‘How can we help?’ I thought the milk goes to the hospital directly, but it goes to them first.”

Baby Cafe will be the first breast milk depot in Chautauqua County. Harrison said the process has taken two years.

Eight women at Baby Cafe are set to be trained. They had to purchase a specific type of freezer through a grant from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, and will be taught the correct procedures in how to use and store the milk, along with what to do when there is a power outage. They will be trained on how to collect the milk, store it, clean the freezer, the correct procedures on how to accept the milk, how to display their license and more.

“If they bring the milk from home we can accept it as long as they have a NYS Milk Bank ID,” Harrison said. “We will also be trained on how to refer them to the right place if they don’t and how to get them through that process.”

Baby Cafe volunteers will also have to ask if there is an unreported illness or medication, and will be required to report it if there is. They can also accept frozen milk, and will be trained on the correct way to ship the milk to the bank. The milk will be shipped out to the Milk Bank in Valhalla, N.Y., and needs to be shipped on Tuesdays in order to be received by Friday. There are also procedures to follow for weekends and holidays.

Harrison said breast milk depots are very important for critically ill or low weight babies, including because of the benefits of breast milk versus regular milk.

“The benefits for longer durations of breastfeeding for the infant can protect the infants against respiratory illness, gastrointestinal diseases, allergies, Sudden Infant Death, obesity, Type Two Diabetes, and even Leukemia,” Harrison said. “Breastfeeding for the mother has been shown to protect against Type Two Diabetes, postpartum depression, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Breastfeeding presents many health and quality-to-life benefits to the mother and babies because the benefits result in huge cost savings to the healthcare system and employers. Educating these mothers will reduce recurrence of adverse birth outcomes and improve birth spacing.”

Specifically, it is important for Baby Cafe to become a breast milk depot, Harrison said, because there are currently none in the Southern Tier. She added that there are many mothers in the area and the hope is that some will have extra breast milk that they are willing to donate, and she thought that Jamestown was a good place to start that in Chautauqua County.

“Training stewards of our community, and reaching out to the isolated and marginalized communities, a continuum to provide connections to primary and preventative health care services will benefit the community as a whole,” Harrison said. “Many societal and health benefits are widely recognized. The Baby Cafe will be mutually beneficial to the entire county.”

Harrison added that the Center for Disease and Control states that Baby Cafes are an exemplary program and the Academy of Medicine also states that all mothers should be a part of a Baby Cafe.

For Harrison, this project is something she is really passionate about.

“It means we can help a child who really needs it,” she said. “Any way we can help a baby survive is something we need to do. Our mission is to help mothers and babies, and if we can help one child that’s great but our goal is to help as many as we can.”

Located at 120 W. Third St., Baby Cafe is typically only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Harrison said that if needed one of the eight women who will be trained will come and open the cafe if someone needs to drop off milk on another day. There are enough volunteers involved that arrangements can be made for someone to open Baby Cafe and accept the milk in the proper way on any day someone wants to come and donate. Opening day is set for Dec. 12.

For more information call the Baby Cafe offices at (716)294-3149 or leave a message or if after hours or a day they are closed, call Harrison at (716)969-5244. To become certified to donate milk, visit nymilkbank.org and click on the donate milk tab.