Pumping for Preemies is a dream team of breast milk donors and advocates that raise awareness of the need for donor breast milk for premature babies. I had the opportunity to meet Mrs. United States 2015, Katie Garza, the founder of Pumping for Preemies, when she spoke at Houston Methodist San Jacinto’s “Pumping for Preemies” event. Katie talked about having a NICU baby and the impact not being able to provide her own breast milk to her premature baby had on her as a parent. You don’t have to wear a crown to do something awesome. You can be someone’s superhero by helping to spread the word on the impact donated breast milk has, or by encouraging a woman to think about donating any extra breast milk.

Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital in Baytown, Texas is now officially a Designated Milk Depot for the Mother’s Milk Bank of Austin, thanks to one of my coworkers, Lisa Wagner. As a NICU nurse, she saw the impact breast milk had on NICU babies and wanted a way to impact a greater population. It all started with an idea. Thanks to some action and energy, and a lot of support from an awesome hospital, my little community hospital is now accepting breast milk donations, which will help save infant lives across Texas. I’m so proud of my nursing coworkers, who thought this program would benefit our community and took action to make it happen.  ❤

The Breast Milk Donation Process

Until my next delivery ❤