ROCKPORT — Margaret Kilpatrick’s first donation of breast milk totaled 500 fluid ounces, roughly the weight of a three-year-old child.

The new mother and MaineHealth employee dropped off her milk earlier this month to the Family Birth Center at MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital to be sent to Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast, an organization that provides equitable access to safe, lifesaving pasteurized human donor milk to help nourish babies in NICUs and hospitals throughout the northeast. MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital serves as a depot for the milk bank, storing donations until they can be shipped out and processed, while also providing donor milk to patients in the department when their own supply is low after giving birth.

“My baby was born six weeks early, so we had to use donor milk before my milk came in,” said Kilpatrick. “It’s nice to be able to pay it forward to other babies that may need it and help reduce the stress for other mothers who are having a difficult time producing.”

MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital has been a depot for the milk bank since 2019, when Family Birth Center care team members wanted to offer pasteurized, human milk to patients who struggle to produce.

“I knew we had a very strong lactation presence here and I’m very proud of that for a small, community hospital,” said Cecily Havener, RN, an international board-certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) and clinical nurse educator in the department. “Having the milk available is a nice alternative for patients that don’t want to supplement with formula. Not alternating back and forth from breast milk to formula and back again is better for an infant’s gut health.”

Kilpatrick’s donation is the second MaineHealth Pen Bay has received this year, with donation sizes starting from a minimum of 150 oz. Before a donation can be made, mothers must undergo a screening process, which includes lab work, before they receive their donor ID number from the milk bank.

Donors bring their milk to the hospital or can arrange for it to be picked up at home. Once in hand, the milk gets packed in airtight bags, tagged with information about the donor and milk, boxed and then stored in a deep freezer within the department until it can be shipped to the milk bank in Massachusetts. Once received, the milk undergoes quality control measures performed by Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast before it is distributed to patients.

As a depot, MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital stores around 2,000 oz. on site for patient use in the Family Birth Center and is required to perform quality control measures, including conducting temperature scans, submitting monthly logs to the milk bank and more. Patients can only use the milk while in the department and must be actively trying to improve their own milk supply but are able to purchase from the milk bank after discharge.

“It’s a popular program and people are open to it,” said Havener. “Pasteurized donor human milk is a nice option while mothers work on increasing their milk supply, and patients who may be resistant to using formula or are upset things aren’t going to plan may feel more comforted that this aid exists to get them back to their goals.”

For Kilpatrick, this donation is only the beginning, as she plans to continue donating as long as her supply can support it.

“Maine is a large state and people all over the region may need this, so every person in every little corner that can help out makes a difference,” she said.

For more information on how to donate, contact the Family Birth Center at MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital at 301-8900. For more information about Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, click here.

MaineHealth is a not-for-profit, integrated health system whose vision is, “Working together so our communities are the healthiest in America,” and is committed to a mission of providing high-quality affordable care, educating tomorrow's caregivers and researching better ways to provide care. MaineHealth includes a Level 1 trauma medical center, eight additional licensed hospitals, comprehensive pediatric care services, an extensive behavioral health care network, diagnostic services as well as home health, hospice and senior care services. With more than 2,000 employed providers and approximately 23,000 care team members, MaineHealth provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. MaineHealth hospitals include MaineHealth Behavioral Health at Spring Harbor in Westbrook, MaineHealth Franklin Hospital in Farmington, MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital in Damariscotta, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland, Biddeford and Sanford, MaineHealth Memorial Hospital in North Conway, N.H., MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital in Rockport, MaineHealth Stephens Hospital in Norway and MaineHealth Waldo Hospital in Belfast. MaineHealth also includes the MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, MaineHealth Behavioral Health in Westbrook, MaineHealth Home Health and Hospice in Saco, the MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, the MaineHealth Medical Group and MaineHealth NorDx in Scarborough. MaineHealth affiliates include MaineGeneral Health in Augusta and Waterville. It is also a significant stakeholder in the MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization in Portland and a joint venture partner in the New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland.