First milk bar for sick babies in Alberta open in Edmonton

The Stollery Children's Hospital NICU at the Royal Alexandra Hospital is now home to a centralized room for breast milk and specialized infant formula.

A new milk bar is open at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and it’s the first of its kind in Alberta.

Since the beginning of March, sick babies and the staff who care for them in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Royal Alex have been benefiting from the opening of a new centralized milk room for breast milk and specialized formula.

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It’s the first centralized milk room in the province and was created using a $750,000 grant from the federal government.

“Previously, NICU nurses were responsible for preparing infant feeds at the bedside, which is a busy environment with infection, prevention and control challenges,” said Heather Chinnery, from the Stollery NICU at the Royal Alex.

Chinnery said some staff were spending upwards of 20 per cent of their time preparing milk. Now, a team of eight milk room staff process and prepare feedings for preterm and sick babies.

About 90 per cent of babies in the 69-bed NICU are given breast milk, with the rest relying on special formula.

Mothers of babies in the NICU will be able to label their expressed breast milk and store it at the Milk Bar, which will also store donated breast milk.

“As a mother in the NICU, you want to know that your milk is being taken care of because it is so important for the nutrition of your baby,” said Madison Prah, whose son Shiloh was born at 25 weeks.

“To learn dedicated staff are preparing exactly what your baby needs in such a clean and sanitized environment alleviates some stress of being here.”

A similar milk room is set to open at Alberta’s Children’s Hospital in Calgary this summer.