Linsey Rude’s baby was starving.
Born in Ethiopia, Baby Abdisa weighed a mere four pounds at five months old.
“Every picture was worse than the one I’d received before,” Linsey said. “I knew I had to get on a plane to get him.”
When Linsey arrived in Ethiopia to adopt her son, his ribs showed and he suffered from a severe gastrointestinal infection. He couldn’t keep milk down. At the hospital, doctors told Linsey that Abdisa probably wouldn’t survive.
Miraculously, he did recover and was well enough to travel home to Missoula. Linsey hoped to breastfeed Abdisa but her milk supply dwindled during the time in Ethiopia. As a mother and registered nurse, she knew the benefits of breast milk for babies, both short- and long-term.
One day, while visiting coworkers at The Birth Center, Linsey made a connection with a fellow mom who offered to share breastmilk with Abdisa.
“In six weeks, he went from four pounds to a chunky, fat, and sassy little baby who grew to almost ten pounds,” Linsey said. “That experience made me realize, ‘My baby’s not the only one in need.’”
In the back of her mind, Linsey always considered starting a milk bank. When her maternity leave ended, she decided to take the leap. A former co-worker connected Linsey with Jessica Welborn, who had worked at a milk bank in San Jose, California.
In the fall of 2013, the pair pasteurized their first bottles of donated breastmilk as Mothers’ Milk Bank of Montana, a non-profit dedicated to collecting, processing, and distributing breastmilk to babies who need it.
“In any city or town, there’s quite a network of women, moms, and lactation consultants,” Jessica explained. “More often than not, donors find us—most often a nursing mom who has a freezer full of expressed breastmilk. She knows her baby won’t use it all. She knows how precious it is and can’t bear to throw it down the drain. So she comes to us.”
Jessica screens potential donors over the phone. Then, a full health history is gathered, along with a blood test to screen for diseases that can pass through breastmilk. Jessica also contacts the donor’s obstetrician and her baby’s pediatrician to get a “green light” for her to donate.
One a donor is approved she can either drop off frozen milk to Mothers’ Milk Bank or, if she lives outside Missoula, can ship via FedEx overnight. When the milk arrives, it can remain frozen. If needed for a recipient baby right away, milk is thawed, stirred, and heat-pasteurized. One bottle from each donation is sent to a California lab for bacteria testing. Once a sterile result is confirmed, the milk is dispensed to recipients.
Mothers’ Milk Bank of Montana is a member of the Human Milk Bank Association of North America, which oversees and sets operating standards for nearly 30 non-profit milk banks in the U.S. and Canada.
“In any given year, we pasteurize and distribute around 80,000 ounces of milk,” Jessica said. “Across the entire association, nearly six million ounces are collected and distributed each year.”
Jessica began her work with milk banks in California, working with the Mothers’ Milk Bank of San Jose. As a graduate student, she wrote several research papers on the benefits of breast milk. In her research, she learned of a woman whose infant baby had died; the mother’s milk supply continued and she donated milk as part of her grieving and healing process.
“I was gripped by that story,” Jessica explained. “It became clear that there was a need for more research surrounding bereavement and donation. So I dug in.”
Eventually, Jessica and her husband moved to Missoula. She and Linsey joined forces in 2012.
“It has been this perfect partnership,” Linsey said. “Both of us believed that we could make this happen. It’s amazing to watch a community come together and do this awesome thing.”
Their work comes full circle in many ways. Linsey’s grandbaby was born early and needed donated breastmilk.
“I watched the nurse feed my grandbaby this bottle of milk that I’d pasteurized. I’d done the blood draw on the donor mom. I stood there, crying,” Linsey said. “It all started with the need I had for my baby and then it was passed on to my grandbaby.”
In March, as COVID-19 caused many to lose work, Jessica said the demand for donated breastmilk increased, especially among low-income recipients.
“We can always use milk donors,” Jessica said. “We have a good supply right now but we never turn a qualified donor away.”
In addition to milk donations, financial donations support financial aid opportunities for milk recipients through the Give the Gift of Milk Fund.
“I think so many of us feel helpless right now with so much of what’s happening in the world,” Jessica said. “People want to donate and make a difference however they can, whether via milk or financial donations.”
Both Linsey and Jessica speak of the community orientation of the milk bank and the importance of supporting mothers in any way they feed their babies.
“We’re all mothers, doing the best we can,” Linsey said. “More than anything, what I love is this idea of women helping each other.”