Medical experts urge state funding for Arkansas breast milk bank to keep donor milk in-state

Medical and hospital officials urged the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee to fund a proposed Arkansas donor milk bank that would process donated human milk for neonatal and medically fragile infants and support statewide lactation services.

Dr. Misty Vermani, neonatologist and director of breastfeeding medicine, told the committee donor human milk is pasteurized and prioritized for sick and preterm infants in NICUs and regional nurseries. She said an Arkansas milk bank would keep regional milk in-state, better supporting local infants and enabling specialized products and research collaborations. "Donor milk is milk, human milk, that mothers of usually term infants donate to a human milk bank that goes through a process called pasteurization that eliminates any infectious particles," Dr. Vermani said.

Presenters said Arkansas currently purchases donor milk from out-of-state banks, at a cost the presenters estimate at about $1.3 million annually. Tanya Johnson, director of nutrition services at UAMS, told the committee current prices around $4.50 per ounce are expected to rise to as much as $6 per ounce in December. Johnson laid out a business plan that identifies the former Red Cross/Monroe Building as a potential site, estimates renovation costs of about $1.2 million and initial equipment near $340,000, and projects a year-one investment near $1.6 million with an eventual payback period of roughly three years based on processing an estimated 300,000 ounces annually.

Johnson said the fund to support an Arkansas Breast Milk Bank (established by Act 255) exists legislatively but "it has not been funded yet." Committee members pressed on funding streams, sustainability, and who would pay hospital costs; presenters said hospitals currently budget for out-of-state milk purchases and would instead purchase from an in-state bank, reducing shipping costs and retaining revenue locally.

Technical questions addressed licensure and tracking: presenters said milk banks use tracking and nutrient-analysis software (estimated licensing around $50,000 with recurring fees) and that donor milk is donated free by mothers (analogous to blood donation), with the milk bank bearing testing, pasteurization and processing costs passed on to hospitals.

Next steps: presenters said they have space identified, equipment and a business plan prepared, and requested appropriations or other funding to begin renovations and operations.