Why do we need a milk bank in the Northwest? Currently, US milk banks cannot meet the need for donor milk. The closest milk banks are in San Jose, California and Denver, Colorado. This can mean increased transportation costs and time and occasionally limited availability when providing donor milk to our area.
Oregon and Washington have two of the highest breastfeeding rates in the United States with the potential to have sufficient breastmilk donors to serve infants throughout the Northwest region and other parts of the US. A committed group of volunteers is developing a human milk bank to serve the Northwest.
Staff:
- Joanne Ransom, Co-Executive Director
- Lesley Mondeaux, Co-Executive Director
- Grace Westbrook, Operations Coordinator
Board of Directors:
- June Winfield, Chair
- Neal Schnitzer, Vice-Chair
- Scotti Weintraub, Secretary
- Ruth Bernard, Treasurer
- Merriah Fairchild
- Lauren Garrett, JD
- Olivia Jones, MD
- Annette Magner, RN, IBCLC
- Linda Welsh
- Dixie Whetsell, MS, IBCLC
Medical Advisory Council:
- Dr. Olivia Jones, MD -- Pediatrics, MAC Chair
- Dr. Rebecca Stepaniak, MD, IBCLC -- Pediatrics
- Dr. Helen Bellanca, MD -- Family Medicine
- Dr. Nan Dahlquist, MD -- Pediatrics
- Dr. Isabella Knox, MD -- Neonatology
- Dr. Ann Loeffler, MD -- Infectious Disease
- Dr. Sarah Rollin, MD -- Pediatrics
- Dr. Nicole Schmidt, MD -- Neonatology
- Melissa Stawarz, RD, LD -- NICU Nutrition Services
- Ellen Tilden, CNM -- Certified Nurse Midwife
Our planning and board meetings are held the third Monday of every month from 4-6pm at St Vincent Medical Center in SW Portland. Please contact us if you are interested in participating. To contact board members, please email info[at]nwmmb[dot]org
