During the pandemic, women have left the workforce at higher rates than men. And when working women are forced to move in and out of the workforce, the supply of donated breast milk can be disrupted.
Donor milk helps nonlactating mothers provide nutrition for their babies, especially preterm babies in the neonatal infant care unit, or NICU. In January, the Human Milk Banking Association of North America released a statement about the urgent need for more breast milk donors to ensure “life-saving medical treatments for high-risk infants.”
“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Lindsay Groff, executive director at the HMBANA, about the causes of the donor milk shortage.
