More than two dozen women were recognized Friday for their help in getting breast milk to premature babies in local hospitals.
The Springfield-Greene County Health Department kicked off World Breastfeeding Month by hosting an event to honor the 27 women who have given 154 gallons of donated mother’s milk to the Greater Ozarks Regional Mother’s Milk Depot.
To date, 161 premature babies have benefited from the donated milk at area hospitals.
According to a news release from the health department, CoxHealth began providing banked human milk in their NICU in January 2013, and Mercy adopted the practice in April 2013.
The Milk Depot was the first major project of The Greater Ozarks Regional Breastfeeding Coalition, a group of physicians, nurses and lactation experts. Its purpose is to provide support, advocacy and clinical consistency for breastfeeding in the Springfield region.
