(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — We've heard of the severe blood shortage these days, but did you know there is also a shortage of breast milk ?
Across the country and in Illinois, milk banks are experiencing a major shortage.
Between 2020 and 2021, there was a 40% increase in demand for donated breast milk, said Susan Urbanski, program manager of the Mothers' Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes in Elk Grove Village.
“We need donors. We need moms who are lactating — any healthy lactating person who has a little bit of extra milk to spare, even if it’s just an ounce or two a day,” she said.
Urbanski said early in the pandemic milk banks saw an almost unprecedented level of donations. But they’ve fallen off significantly.
Most of the donated milk goes to hospitals, where premature babies benefit the most.
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