Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank

We want to highlight our depot down in McAlester, OK!
Sometimes our more rural drop off locations don't get a lot of activity, but they have been receiving large donations of life-saving donor milk! So shout out to the McAlester area for making such an impact for our most fragile little Oklahomans! Your staff and patients are doing great, Mcalester Regional Health Center!

Our newest depot site is officially open! The South Side of OKC has a new drop off location at Variety Care - Lafayette, located at 500 SW 44th St.
Approved donors can drop off 8-12 or 1-5 Monday-Friday, upstairs at the WIC offices. Variety Care is closed for lunch from 12-1 each day.
Spanish-speaking staff are available to assist families!
Please call ahead at 405-632-6688 to make your donations.

To become an approved milk donor, contact OMMB at 405-297-5683 or apply on our website www.okmilkbank.org

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5119492ekzo

Breastfeeding: Artwork's stories of babies helped by donor milk An art exhibition will tell the stories of people who have received donor milk for their babies.

Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank Spotlight! This is our chance to introduce ourselves to you all, so you can get to know the faces behind the milk bank's day-to-day operations!

We'd like to highlight Lab Tech Haley Richardson today! Haley's passion for maternal and infant health was ignited in college. She graduated from UCO with a Bachelor of Public Health in 2023 and has done great work toward improving health outcomes since then! Haley has been a dedicated volunteer for the March of Dimes and the Coalition of Oklahoma Breastfeeding Advocates and has been with OMMB for eight months. We know that she is already a powerhouse and will go far! OMMB is lucky to have her on the team!

Haley is married with two dogs and enjoys spending time with her family, going to the dog park with Ryker and Rex, and volunteering with organizations to promote health for moms and babies.

Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank Spotlight! This is our chance to introduce ourselves to you all, so you can get to know the faces behind the milk bank's day-to-day operations!

Let us introduce you to Maria Cristina Washington! Cristina will be celebrating her third year at OMMB this summer, and we couldn’t be happier to have her! Coming from WIC, working as a breastfeeding peer counselor, she has been a wonderful asset to our team. Like many members of our team, she has played several roles. She started as a lab tech in our pasteurization lab, was then promoted to Lab Supervisor, and she has now taken up her current role as Business Coordinator! Cristina trains our incoming lab staff, communicates with hospitals and vendors, handles all of our Spanish-speaking donors and recipient families, and keeps things at OMMB running seamlessly!

Cristina is married with a five year-old daughter and ONE ON THE WAY! 🥳 She loves being outdoors, traveling, good coffee, and spending time with her family! She also loves sports - specifically the OU Sooners, OKC Thunder, Dallas Cowboys, and LA Dodgers!

Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank Spotlight! This is our chance to introduce ourselves to you all, so you can get to know the faces behind the milk bank's day-to-day operations!

Holly Skinner, IBCLC/RLC
Hi, friends! I'm going to introduce myself this time! I've been with the milk bank for over six years, starting as a lab tech, pasteurizing our donor human milk while I was still in school to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). I've played many roles at OMMB but have now settled in long-term as the Donor Coordinator and Outpatient Services Coordinator. I also manage social media, email blasts, and depot sites; and I organize our Bereaved Donor Program, for the very special families who donate milk after a pregnancy or infant loss.

I am married with three children, and I was called to the lactation profession because of my own breastfeeding journeys and NICU experience. When I'm not working, you will probably find me shuttling kids to and from their extracurriculars and wishing I had time to stop for coffee!! I spend most of my free time reading...like, too much of my free time. I also enjoy jigsaw puzzles, binging TV shows, playing trivia, accidentally killing my house plants, and seeing OKC Broadway shows at the Civic Center.

Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank Spotlight! This is our chance to introduce ourselves to you all, so you can get to know the faces behind the milk bank's day-to-day operations!

Today we are highlighting Clinical Director Keri Hale, RD/LD, IBCLC/RLC
For 25 years, Keri has worked as a Registered Dietitian! For the first 10 years of her career, she worked in a variety of roles, and while doing contract work for WIC, she attended a human milk conference. According to Keri, "This is when I first learned about human milk and all of its benefits. I truly fell in love with human milk!" This newly-found passion sent her career in a new direction, and she pursued her IBCLC certification in 2008. In 2009, Keri became the first RD/LD, IBCLC to work for OU Children's lactation department, began working for the Oklahoma Breastfeeding Hotline, and she continued to contract with WIC. Each of these positions played a major role in satisfying her desire to support breastfeeding moms. Keri has worked for OMMB since 2013 when she was hired as the Clinical Director. She was the very first employee and had the task of helping Becky Mannel open Oklahoma's human milk bank! Keri still serves as Clinical Director, nearly 11 years later, and she is an invaluable part of the team!

Keri has been married to her husband Andy for 20 years, and they have three children together. In her free time, she loves to travel, attend sporting events, and play pickleball!

OMMB is closed today, in observance of Memorial Day

Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank Spotlight! This is our chance to introduce ourselves to you all, so you can get to know the faces behind the milk bank's day-to-day operations!

Today we are highlighting Heidi Russell, OMMB's Special Projects Director! Heidi got involved with the lactation community four years ago when she became Executive Director of the Coalition of Oklahoma Breastfeeding Advocates (COBA), and greatly values the collaborative relationship COBA has with the Oklahoma Mothers’ Milk Bank. She enjoys sharing OMMB’s mission within the community to ensure safe and reliable sources of donor milk for those in need. Heidi has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma and is married with a son who recently graduated college!

Heidi enjoys exercising, walking her Doberman, reading, checking out new restaurants in Oklahoma City, lake weekends, and OKC Thunder games!

Oklahoma Mothers' Milk Bank Spotlight! This is our chance to introduce ourselves to you all, so you can get to know the faces behind the milk bank's day-to-day operations!

We are kicking off our staff highlights with OMMB Executive Director, Becky Mannel, MPH, IBCLC, FILCA
Becky is a founding member of the milk bank and helped pull together the first board of directors, acquired nonprofit status from the IRS, and recruited start-up funding to make OMMB a reality. While serving as Executive Director for OMMB, Becky is also a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the Oklahoma Breastfeeding Resource Center (OBRC) at OUHSC. The OBRC team manages several statewide breastfeeding initiatives including the Oklahoma Breastfeeding Hotline, professional trainings and lectures, and Becoming Baby-Friendly in Oklahoma, which helps hospitals achieve this important designation.
Becky has served as President of the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA), Chair of the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) Board, President of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) Board of Directors and Chair of the Coalition of Oklahoma Breastfeeding Advocates (COBA). She has numerous publications and has served as lead editor of several lactation textbooks. Becky is proud to have helped start the milk bank, pass several breastfeeding laws and secure Medicaid coverage for lactation consultants and pasteurized donor human milk for babies in the community.

Outside of work, Becky is married to Robert and has three married children and three awesome grandchildren! She loves to spend time with family, is a marathon runner, scuba diver, avid bird watcher, likes to garden, dance and read all kinds of books, is active in her church and a long-time Thunder fan.

OMMB's Becky Mannel and Heidi Russell had an important opportunity at the OK State Capitol yesterday, to raise awareness and educate policy makers on the importance of donor human milk for infant health! 🤱

We’re excited to welcome Dwyna (Dee) Vick as a new member of the Oklahoma Mothers’ Milk Bank Board of Directors! Dee serves as Senior Director, Provider Engagement at the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and she is a wonderful addition to our Board of Directors!

May 17th is World Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) Awareness Day! Today, we would like to share with you all a reading of "Forever Our Little One," read by the author Jennifer Canvasser.

Did you know that an estimated 9,000 premature infants are affected by Necrotizing Enterocolitis in the US each year? OMMB and our sister HMBANA milk banks work hard to reduce the number of infants impacted by NEC, by ensuring access to safe donor human milk for premature and medically-fragile infants, which is associated with a significantly lower risk of contracting the dangerous disease.

Forever Our Little One, a storybook for bereaved families - read by author, Jennifer Canvasser Forever Our Little One is a storybook for families to read together after the devastating loss of a little one. Our hardback book is written by NEC Society’s...

Happy Mother's Day from OMMB!

It is World Maternal Mental Health Day, an incredibly important day of awareness!

❤️Did you know it's estimated that 1 in 5 women experience a perinatal mood disorder? If you are dealing with a mood disorder, you aren't' alone! Here are some resources:

🧡The Oklahoma Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative (OPQIC) has Resource Map for help: https://opqic.org/resourcemap/

💛The national organization Postpartum Support International (PSI) website contains a variety of care resources. https://www.postpartum.net/

💚The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline provides 24/7, free, confidential support.
https://mchb.hrsa.gov/national-maternal-mental-health-hotline

At Oklahoma Mothers’ Milk Bank we value and appreciate our donors! Your donations make a difference!

If you are interested in becoming a donor you can call us or apply on our website to begin the process! 🤍

It's the first day of 2024! See the ways you can get involved and learn from the Black Mamas Matter Alliance below!

https://blackmamasmatter.org/bmhw-2024/?fbclid=IwAR3ZFU-VIu0E63FaJIUulZ0QNyNP8pSsnRGZLZUMaZz7M230MBeMVTJCkTM_aem_AZolgugoHRlPSlWg7OhHrGndlWE7eeskQvDGncSvmg0AIg2BC8UbQTG07_m5dxhnfnL2OaVsiLHDK5bvfEkWffjD

Donor Mickaela made a large drop off at our OU Children’s depot site! 👶🏻 She’s helping babies survive and thrive by sharing the gift of donor milk! 🩷🩵 While you’re Spring cleaning this year, consider emptying out that freezer by becoming a donor!

Happy IBCLC Day from OMMB! 💕

What a night to remember! OMMB's 10 Year Casino Night Gala was a success! We raised funds to support the mission, recognized some key volunteers, donors, and depot sites who make all of this possible, and a great time was had by all!
Here's to the next 10 years and the next MILLION OUNCES!🥂