The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences celebrated the opening of the first milk bank in the state on Wednesday afternoon.
Dr. Cam Patterson, UAMS chancellor, Dr. Misty L. Virmani, executive medical director of the UAMS Milk Bank and director of breastfeeding medicine, state Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, and Donald R. Bobbitt, president of the University of Arkansas System, all spoke at the ribbon cutting at the Monroe Building just off UAMS’ main campus in Little Rock.
“We all know that breastfeeding is incredibly important, but I think this is a step on the bridge to making Arkansas safer, healthier and really helping to improve the health of all the mothers and infants around the state and decreasing the risk of infant mortality and maternal mortality, and that is why it is so close to my heart,” Virmani said.
In the past, hospitals in Arkansas have sourced donor milk from banks in Texas, Michigan, Illinois and Oklahoma at a cost of more than $1 million a year, according to a UAMS news release.
Pilkington, who sponsored House Bill 1067, now Act 225, in 2021 to create the milk bank a special fund for it, spoke about why he thought the milk bank was needed for the state.
“This isn’t a silver bullet, but this is a step in the right direction, and I’m so honored I was able to run this bill. Granted, when I did, I got a lot of weird looks from a lot of people,” he said.
Previously, potential donors who had an excess of breast milk could not donate locally through hospitals, and the process was “complicated” since there was no designated space for people to donate, he said.
“Clearly there was a disconnect between what is happening and the willingness of Arkansans to help out fellow mothers,” Pilkington said.
Ly is a Report for America Corps member.
