New site in Carmel offers breast milk donation drop-off and purchase

Mothers will be able to purchase and drop off donated human breast milk at an Ascension St. Vincent site in Carmel. 

The site, located at 13500 North Meridian Street, opened its doors on Monday. It is supported through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce infant mortality. 

The combined Milk Depot and Milk Express site at Ascension St. Vincent in Carmel works in tandem with the Milk Bank, a nonprofit that collects breast milk for pasteurization and processing before sending it back to the hospital for use. 

Lindsay McGuirem, the assistant director of advancement with the Milk Bank, said donated milk is particularly important for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit whose mothers may be unable to breastfeed them. 

“Science estimates that between 60-70% of women who give birth prematurely will have issues with their milk coming in,” she said. “Oftentimes these moms are under high stress situations that will impact their milk supply.”

McGuire said breast milk helps low birth weight babies avoid serious gastrointestinal diseases. 

“They are at high risk for necrotizing enterocolitis, which is a GI disease that actually can decay the GI system,” she said. “Research has found if those babies are provided with 100% breast milk diet, their survival odds go up.”

Ascension St. Vincent in Carmel began pursuing the milk depot and dispensary program just six months ago after Erin Deitch, nurse manager for the mother-baby unit at the hospital, saw a need for it. 

“In Indiana we have a high infant mortality rate, having this breast milk for these babies is really important,” she said. “Or for moms who want to bridge the gap between breastfeeding their babies and need to use something else and don’t want to use formula.”

Indiana’s most recent infant mortality data shows some improvements but is still above the national rate by a wide margin. In 2024, the state posted 6.3 deaths for every 1,000 live births, down from 6.5 the year before. The national average is 5.6 deaths per 1,000. 

Chad Dilley, President of Ascension St. Vincent Carmel, said the hospital adopted the program at the urging of staff.

“There’s some sort of gap where the baby can’t get breastmilk from their mother, they [the hospital staff] saw that on a daily basis,” he said. “They thought that was a need that we had here.”

The Milk Bank has other donation sites across Indianapolis. Those wishing to donate milk can visit the Milk Bank’s website and apply to become a donor. 

Contact WFYI and Side Effects Public Media's Health Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org.