When Cody Regional Health (CRH) has officially opened its breast milk depot, it already had nearly 4 gallons of life-changing and potentially life-saving breast milk. And it all came from one donor.
Amelia Rothleutner had breast milk to spare when she became the first donor for CRH’s Women’s Health and Nursery Department. She donated over 500 ounces, which will be transported to Colorado and distributed to infants in need throughout the nation.
“I had a lot of extra milk and didn’t want it to go to waste,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “It takes a lot of time and effort to pump and store it, and I didn’t want to throw it all away.”
Rothleutner’s breast milk will provide vital nutrients to infants at a critical stage when they’re already struggling. CRH hopes to find more donors and expand its capacity to provide this invaluable resource throughout the region.
Milk Depot
CRH has partnered with Mother’s Milk Bank, a Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation program in Arvada, Colorado. Mother’s Milk Bank is one of North America's largest non-profit milk banks, supplying human breast milk to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) nationwide.
A milk depot is where breast milk is donated and stored until it’s shipped to Colorado for pasteurization, testing, and distribution. CRH is now one of only four such depots in Wyoming.
Melissa Coggins, Clinical Supervisor for CRH Regional Health Women's Health and Nursery, said it took six months to arrange for CRH to become a milk depot.
“If women have additional breast milk, they can donate to this bank,” she said. “We have women from our community who deliver to the Billings Clinic NICU (in Montana), and others who also go all the way to Denver, Colorado, to deliver to babies who have really special health needs. Now, we can provide those services here.”
CRH does not currently distribute breast milk. Coggins said it hopes to expand its capacity within a year.
“The goal is to integrate CRH into the program to have pasteurized milk here and available for our patients,” she said. “We don’t have a NICU in Cody, but Billings and Denver really need that donated milk.”
Breast Milk Is Breast Milk
Unlike blood donation, breast milk donations can be universally used by any infant in need. Breast milk is breast milk, which helps infants build their immunity and prepare the complex biome of beneficial bacteria in their guts.
“Without those things, infants can be prone to infections and different kinds of bowel disorders,” Coggins said. “Donor breast milk helps with those.”
Donated breast milk can also “bridge the gap” between mothers and infants. It can be provided if a mother has trouble producing enough milk or the infant struggles to latch.
This is a crucial area where formula, for all its benefits, is lacking compared to breast milk. That’s why CRH and many other hospitals like to have pasteurized breast milk available when needed.
“Formula just doesn't offer that immunity health or help develop that gut microbiome,” Coggins said. “That’s why we’re excited about supporting breastfeeding mothers through our milk depot.
Blood Test To Pass
Rothleutner had an excess of breast milk in her freezer when she decided to become a donor. However, it wasn’t as easy as taking the contents of her freezer and dropping it off at CRH.
“It was fairly straightforward, even if it took a little bit to figure out because we’re in such a rural area,” she said. “The hardest part was getting the blood test checked off.”
All breast milk donors start their journey with a blood test. Coggins said that the test ensures nothing harmful could transfer from the donor to an infant.
“They go through some screenings for blood-borne pathogens, like HIV or hepatitis C, that could be given to the baby drinking that donated breast milk,” she said. “If you meet all those requirements, you’re good to go.”
Donors also have certain thresholds they need to maintain, like drinking under a certain amount of caffeine a day and not pumping for at least six hours after consuming alcohol.
Coggins and others at CRH hope the blood test won’t be a barrier for potential donors. With Rothleutner’s input, they’ve streamlined the process to make it easier and entirely affordable.
“We’ll do the lab draw at CRH, free of charge,” Coggins said. “We will help them pack their milk and ship it to Denver to get tested, processed, and pasteurized.”
A freezer full of breast milk Amelia Rothleutner donated to Cody Regional Health's milk depot. Rothleutner is the first donor for Cody's milk depot, giving over 500 ounces, roughly four gallons, of excess breast milk. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
(Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
Cupcakes to celebrate the new breast milk depot at Cody Regional Health's Women's Health Nursery. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) 
Vicki Sarver and Melissa Coggins with Cody Regional Health's Women's Health and Nursery cut the ribbon of the hospital's new milk depot. Cody Regional Health will now store and ship donated breast milk to Mother's Milk Bank in Colorado, where it will be pasteurized and distributed to infant ICUs nationwide. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)
Liquid Gold
Once donors are accepted into the Mother’s Milk Bank network, they might already have a life-saving opportunity.
Vicki Sarver, the director of CRH’s Women’s Health & Nursery, said milk frozen for up to eight months can still be donated and distributed. Women can also submit donations up to 24 months postpartum.
“Don't let moms throw it away if they're willing to go through the screening,” she said. “By supporting families during such a critical time, we’re helping ensure every baby has access to the essential nutrients and immune protection that only human milk can provide. It truly is liquid gold.”
When CRH opened its milk depot, Rothleutner’s generous donation filled the freezer. She hopes other mothers in northwest Wyoming will undergo the rewarding process of becoming donors.
“We are incredibly grateful to Amelia for her generosity and commitment to helping other families,” said Sarver. “Her donation represents the first step in what we hope will be an ongoing effort to provide this invaluable resource to infants in need.”
Coggins described breast milk donation as an intrinsically simple process with profound benefits - life-changing for mothers and life-saving for infants.
“Rather than throwing away breast milk your baby no longer needs,” she said, “you could donate this life-saving resource to babies, to different NICUs and hospitals across the nation or in our local communities. And eventually, we will have donated breast milk available at CRH. Those children need that milk, and donors can provide it.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
