Mother shares her blessing

Local woman donates extra breast milk to help babies

BY LARRY GIERER - lgierer@ledger-enquirer.com --

A maternity nurse laughed and told new mother Bonnie Goodson of Columbus her extra breast milk could be used to make pancakes.

She passed on that.

But Goodson did find a use for her breast milk. She feeds needy babies.

The 27-year-old graphic artist at Beacon University says she has donated 3,054 ounces -- almost 24 gallons -- of breast milk to Mothers Milk Bank at WakeMed in Raleigh, N.C.

If you look hard into Goodson's stand up deep freezer, you'll find some food scattered among numerous bags of breast milk.

"One day, my husband Todd told me that I was going to have to organize my milk," Goodson said, laughing.

Her frozen product is sent in coolers overnight by FedEx. "We always send it on the last truck going out," she said. "North Carolina is the closest milk bank."

According to the bank's Web site, in cases where a baby's mother can't produce the milk to feed a newborn, the milk of a donor offers what the child needs such as optimal nutrition, easy digestibility, protection against many organisms and diseases, and infection-fighting components.

Human milk, rather than formula, also contains growth factors that can protect immature tissue, promote maturation in the gastrointestinal tract and promote the healing of tissue damaged by

infection.

Some common reasons for the need include: prematurity, allergies or formula intolerances, immunologic deficiencies, treatment of some infectious diseases and treatment of inborn errors of metabolism.

Once the milk reaches the bank, it is thawed and heat-treated to kill any bacteria. The milk is then put in jars and frozen again. It is eventually shipped to a home or hospital.