The St. Luke’s Baby & Me Support Center in Bethlehem is proud to announce it is now a depot and dispensary for the Mid-Atlantic Mother’s Milk Bank.
The Mid-Atlantic Mother’s Milk Bank provides safe, ethically-sourced donor milk for inpatient and outpatient babies with medical needs. By partnering with the Mid-Atlantic Mother’s Milk Bank, the St. Luke’s Baby & Me Support Center can accept and dispense donor milk to Lehigh Valley families.
Human milk benefits all babies but can be especially critical for medically vulnerable infants. When a mother’s milk isn’t available, pasteurized milk from donors who undergo thorough screening is the next-best option.
“The St. Luke’s Baby & Me Support Center is dedicated to helping families in our community raise healthy babies,” said Dr. Rima Strassman, MD, FABM, NABBLM-C, St. Luke’s Medical Director, Lactation Services. “Our relationship with the Mid-Atlantic Mother’s Milk Bank allows us to provide safe human milk to babies in our community who need it the most.”
“This service is the latest example of the outstanding support we provide through the St. Luke’s Baby & Me Support Center,” added Rima, who is the region’s only physician board certified in lactation medicine. “We’re thrilled to add it to the region’s most comprehensive pre- and post-natal support program.”
Donating milk can be a rewarding experience, with donors knowing they are improving the health and well-being of families in the area. Anyone interested in donating milk can learn more about the simple screening and donation process by visiting https://midatlanticmilkbank.org/donate/.
About the St. Luke’s Baby & Me Support Center
The St. Luke’s Baby & Me Support Center provides mothers, fathers, support persons and family members with serviced they need before, during and after pregnancy. We have locations in Bethlehem, Center Valley and Palmerton.
For more information on the St. Luke’s Baby & Me Support Center’s services, visit https://www.slhn.org/pediatrics/services/baby-and-me-support-center. The phone number is 484-526-2229.
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 350+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue of $4 billion, the Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.
Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school campus. It also operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 52 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 500 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke’s, a member of the Children’s Hospital Association, established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.
SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency, and patient satisfaction. St. Luke’s is a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. The Network’s flagship University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from Fortune/PINC AI 10 years in a row, including in 2021 when it was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. In 2021, St. Luke’s was also identified as one of the 15 Top Health Systems nationally. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy
