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Breast Milk Drive To Be Held On South Coast To Help Premature Infants

Photo by Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

Nursing mothers are being encouraged to donate their breast milk this week on the South Coast to help premature infants. 

Cottage Children’s Medical Center in Santa Barbara is holding a breast milk donor drive to benefit babies who are patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Mothers sometimes can’t produce enough milk when their babies are born premature. 

NICU Manager Jennifer Ferrick says breast milk is vital to protecting premature infants who are otherwise at high risk for an infection.

“Necrotizing enterocolitis, which is an abdominal infection or a gut infection, which can cause death or other complications. So, when they get the breast milk, it decreases that because of all the good properties in breast milk,” she said.

The donor milk drive will be held on Friday from 9 am to 1 pm at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.