Bronson Mothers’ Milk Bank provides life-sustaining resource for those who cannot

The thought of giving away the breast milk she was producing for an infant daughter who would never receive it was “unbearable because it was like I was just giving away the last pieces of my daughter,” says Elizabeth Mohney.

Mohney, who lives in Gobles with her husband and two-year-old son, gave birth on November 3, 2025, to Eleanor “Ellie” Grace Mohney at Bronson Methodist Hospital. She decided with her midwife and husband to induce labor at 38 weeks because her baby was having trouble swallowing in utero due to high levels of amniotic fluid in her mother’s womb.

This was the latest in a series of life-threatening situations that Ellie and her family began dealing with 17 weeks into her mother’s pregnancy.

“I just remember thinking that if she passed during labor, I didn’t know if I’d be able to finish. I  felt Ellie kick that last hour before she was born,” Mohney says.

At 8:25 p.m., after about six hours of labor, Ellie came into the world stillborn.

“The next few days were the hardest of my life,” Mohney says. “My milk started coming in three days after Ellie was born, and it came in very fast because she was my second baby.”

She reached out to healthcare professionals at Bronson and was offered advice on ways to stop her milk production. She was pumping her milk to get relief and storing what she produced in her freezer because she “couldn’t bear the thought of dumping it down the drain.”

While going through a box of Ellie’s things that she took home from the hospital, she found a brochure with information about Bronson’s Mothers’ Milk Bank.

“It talked about all of the babies who’ve survived off of donated milk and the grief support they offer grieving families who have donated,” Mohney says.

She connected with Lizzie Luchsinger, Donor Coordinator with the Milk Bank, who explained the donor process, which includes a phone interview and having labs drawn. Mohney completed the necessary steps.

“I met Lizzie at the Milk Bank and had all of my milk in bags. I talked to her and her co-workers. They let me talk about Ellie and the Foundation we created in her name. I handed over my milk and cried. They were so wonderful. They made me feel like Ellie mattered to someone other than me.”

The names of infants like Ellie are inscribed on individual leaves on a Memorial Tree created by the Milk Bank in 2015 to honor the children of milk bank donors who have passed. (Editor’s Note: Click HERE to learn more about the Mohneys’ story and the subsequent foundation they’ve created in Ellie’s name.)

The idea for the tree came from a former manager at Bronson who lost a baby, Luchsinger says.

“It’s pretty exceptional,” she says of the tree, which is located in the lobby of the hospital’s North Campus. “Strangers on a daily basis are there crying. Families come on birthdays and anniversaries to feel some kind of connection to the children they’ve lost.”

There are 300 names on this tree, which is now full. Already, 26 new names are being planned for leaves on a second tree.

Four years ago, an annual Bereavement Ceremony began where the babies’ names are read, and each family receives a flower and a candle. There also are activities like art and music therapy. This year’s ceremony was held on August 14.

“It’s truly a celebration that our families choose to make in their darkest hours. They choose to have part of their journey and legacy honored,” Luchsinger says. “It’s remarkable to be in a room with people who have lost their babies, some who knew this before their baby was born and some who lost their baby at birth.”

Ensuring options for new Moms

Bronson’s Milk Bank began 20 years ago, the first and one of only a few in the State of Michigan, in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to reduce the risk of babies there getting Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), Luchsinger says.

“NEC is the most common and serious intestinal disease among premature babies. It happens when tissue in the small or large intestine is injured or inflamed,” according to Nemours KidsHealth. “This can lead to death of intestinal tissue and, in some cases, a hole (perforation) in the intestinal wall.”

From these beginnings, the Milk Bank grew to serve the needs of new mothers and fathers who for a variety of reasons are unable to provide their own breast milk to their newborn infants.

Every family with a specific need for the breast milk receives “some amount” based on several factors, including the amount and duration of time needed, Luchsinger says.

Through The Restoration Project (TRP)  the first-ever national safety net for infant feeding following a maternal loss, Bronson’s Milk Bank provides complimentary breast milk for infants who have lost moms.

Milk also is given as a medical relief tool to bridge the gap between a cesarean section delivery and when breast milk comes in.

“We are really good at building relationships with hospitals. We can really create what they need based on amounts per bottle or an infant’s dietary restrictions,” she says. “We have a contract with MDHHS t(Michigan Department of Health & Human Services) to provide milk to moms who are HIV positive for one year. The majority of the time, donor breast milk is short-term to bridge gaps created by instances of surrogacy or adoption unless there’s a maternal death or medical conditions with moms and infants.”

The milk from donors like Mohney goes to local recipients as well as those within the United States through agreements Bronson has with other healthcare systems.

“We supply breast milk to 23 hospitals in Michigan and 11 hospitals outside of Michigan that receive our milk. We fly our milk to hospitals in South Carolina which have milk banks, but use our donor milk,” says Lindsay Starks, Bronson’s System Manager of Breastfeeding Services and Milk Bank Manager.

Hospitals receiving breastmilk from Bronson pay for it and have different policies regarding how much recipients are charged for the milk. Stark says insurers don’t reimburse for breast milk.

Bronson’s Milk Bank is one of more than 30 such operations nationwide and in Canada that are members of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA).

“A HMBANA member milk bank collects breast milk from mothers who have more than their babies need, then screens, pasteurizes, and tests it, and, finally, dispenses it to premature and fragile infants in need, either in hospitals or homes,” says information on the organization’s website. “HMBANA milk banks are nonprofit operations that follow internationally recognized guidelines for pasteurized donor human milk.

“Pasteurized donor human milk is breast milk which has been donated to a HMBANA member milk bank. Upon donation, it is screened, pooled, and tested so that it can be dispensed to hospitals and outpatient families for use by infants in need. All donor mothers require screening and approval, and all donor milk is logged and monitored. Pasteurization eliminates harmful bacteria or other potential infecting organisms. A small amount of nutritional elements are lost in the process; however, donor milk has been determined to be the second best choice after mothers’ own.”

Bronson provides prenatal education that includes information about breastfeeding. All families, regardless of where they deliver, have access to lactation support provided by the healthcare system.

In the last three years, the number of breast milk donors to Bronson’s Milk Bank has increased by 20 percent, Luchsinger says. She was working as a Lactation Specialist when the first baby formula crisis happened in the United States and says, “We got lots of calls about how their supply could be regained and where sources might be. We saw an increase in breast milk donors because they knew there was a shortage.”

The United States has faced major infant nutrition challenges, driven by the historic 2022 nationwide shortage from plant closures and bacterial recalls, alongside recent 2026 safety recalls and infant botulism outbreaks tied to specific powdered formula brands, according to the Cornell Chronicle.

“We’ve never run out of breast milk. It definitely ebbs and flows. There are babies always being born early or sick or in the NICU,” Luchsinger says. “We’re fortunate to serve different communities where the milk never sits unused.”

“There’s been a definite shift in people having more open conversations and more statewide advocacy and medical associations who acknowledge the importance of breastfeeding for maternal and infant health,” says Dr. Karen Garcia, a Pediatrician and Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine Specialist and System Director for Health Transformation and Community Partnership with Bronson Healthcare.

The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages breastfeeding for a minimum of six months, while the World Health Organization encourages two years.

Luchsinger says the average locally is between 12 and 18 months.

About 86% of infants in the United States start out being breastfed, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control).

“However, rates drop sharply over time: only about 48% are exclusively breastfed at 3 months, roughly 27% to 30% are exclusively breastfed through 6 months, and less than 40% continue receiving any breast milk at 12 months,” according to the CDC.

Garcia says women who choose to breastfeed or pump their milk to donate are being supported through state and federal legislation to “protect this health thing that we need to do.”

In 2022, the federal  Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act became law, requiring employers to provide all breastfeeding employees with reasonable break time to pump and a private lactation space that is not a bathroom. Many employees who were not previously covered by the 2010 federal law, Break Time for Nursing Mothers, are covered by the PUMP Act, including salaried workers, healthcare workers, teachers, and agricultural workers, among others.

And there continues to be an increase in the number of employers who set aside dedicated space for their employees to pump their milk.

“We’re seeing an increase even among our facility,” says Letishia Hill, System Director of Women and Children’s Services for Bronson Healthcare and an Administrator with Bronson Methodist and Bronson Battle Creek hospitals. “We get questions a lot about how to appropriate space for our employees and others to pump.”

Adding to the greater accessibility and equity is federal legislation that requires breast pumps be made widely and readily available to patients who are on Medicaid, Garcia says.

Organizations like Rootead Enrichment Center in Kalamazoo and Milk Like Mine Community Birthing & Breastfeeding Services Center in Battle Creek have breast pumps available for rent at a reduced rate or for free.

Breastfeeding, Garcia says, is a “medical thing that postpartum and lactating women need to do. Bronson’s Milk Bank is a gem and an underappreciated resource.”