Collecting your milk
Congratulations! You have completed the screening process, returned the paperwork, and have been approved to donate milk!
Pump and collect your milk
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water.
Dry with a clean towel. Gently wipe nipples and then breast, from the nipple out, with clean, damp washcloth (use mild soap) before each pumping. - Express or pump your milk into a sterile container.
We prefer you freeze milk in the pre-sterilized containers we provide. However, if you do not have any, you may use any food-grade hard plastic or glass container which has been boiled for five minutes. Leave ½ inch at the top of the container for the milk to expand as it freezes. We accept milk stored in milk storage bags, but we encourage you to freeze your milk in the containers we provide to reduce waste due to torn bags.- If you are collecting directly into the container you will use for freezing, open it and place the cap on the table facing up.
- If you are pumping into another container, please leave the storage container closed until you are finished pumping and are ready to pour the milk into it. Do not touch the top lip of the container or the inside of the cap or container.
- Write your Donor ID number, last name, and pump date on each container.
If you are donating milk collected before contacting us, please make sure your name or ID# is clearly marked either on each container of milk or on the outside of a bag that contains your containers of milk. - Refrigerate or freeze your milk within 30 minutes of pumping.
- You may refrigerate your milk for up to 24 hours before freezing. If there is still room for more milk in the container after one pumping session, you may add to it before freezing.
- You may also add fresh milk to frozen milk using the following method: Chill fresh milk in the refrigerator for 30 min. then pour chilled fresh milk on top of frozen milk. Cap and replace in freezer.
- Clean your pump.
You must wash, rinse and sterilize the pump parts that touch your breast or milk one time per day, every day that you use it. If you pump two or more times per day, simply rinse between sessions. Always follow manufacturer’s instructions.
When to contact us
- If you, your baby, or any household member becomes ill.
- If you are unsure about whether to save milk for donation.
- If you occasionally take medication, call to find out how long to wait after taking it before saving for the milk bank.
- If you have a yeast infection on your nipples, your baby has thrush, or you have a fever blister.
- If there are any changes in your health, or the health of your baby or other members of your household (this applies to everything from the common cold to more serious illness).
- If there are any changes in your health behaviors or risk factors for disease.
More tips
- If you are temporarily not saving milk to donate, continue to pump. This keeps your milk supply even and your breasts comfortable.
- If you drink alcohol, do not pump for the Milk Bank for at least 12 hours.
- Do keep nursing your own baby.
Maximizing your milk power
Pumped milk changes during the course of a single feeding. Milk pumped from a full breast starts out as lower calorie “foremilk.” It will look thin but contains critical antibodies.
As the breast empties, the fat content of the milk increases. Your “hindmilk” is richer in calories. This creamier-looking milk helps small babies gain weight. It is very important to include both foremilk and hindmilk, so that the babies receiving donor milk will grow well.
Milk expressed in the morning may contain more foremilk. Milk expressed in the afternoon may be higher in hindmilk.
Increase your hindmilk by:
- If you pump from a full breast, pump until you “empty” the breast. This will make sure that both the foremilk and hindmilk have been removed. Use as many containers as you need.
- Pump milk after you have fed your baby.
- Massage the breast gently before and during pumping to help stimulate the letdown reflex and release more fat into the milk.
More questions? See Milk Donor FAQs.
Austin Area
Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin – CENTRAL (Main Office)
Medical Arts Square
2911 Medical Arts St., Suite #12
Austin, TX 78705
512-494-0800
Hours: Mon-Thurs 9-5, Fri 9-1
Seton Northwest Hospital - NORTH
3rd Floor-Mother/Baby Desk
11113 Research Boulevard
Austin, TX 78759
512-324-6000 x67308
Hours: Anytime
The Women’s Center - ROUND ROCK
St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center
2400 Round Rock Ave.
Round Rock, TX 78681
Hours: 8:30 - 8:30
512-341-5322
Parking for milk drop-off is in the circle at the Main Entrance. Please follow signs for The Women’s Center. The drop off point is at the postpartum nurse’s station.
South Oaks Family Medicine-SOUTH
7900 FM 1826, Bldg. II, Ste. 202
Austin, TX 78737
512-416-0044
Mom's Place WIC Breastfeeding Clinic
8701-B Research Blvd.
Austin, TX 78758
512-719-3010
Hours: Monday, Wednesday & Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed 2nd Wed of every month), Tuesday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1st Saturday of the month from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Bryan/College Station
Brazos Valley Community Action Agency (BVCAA)-WIC
3408 S. Texas Ave.
Bryan, TX 77802
979-260-4016
Corpus Christi
Driscoll Children’s Hospital
Mom’s Place Lactation-3rd Floor
3533 South Alameda
Corpus Christi, TX 78411
361-694-5338
361-694-4234
Hours: Mon-Th 10-4
*Please call ahead
Edinburg-The Valley
Women’s Hospital at Renaissance
Outpatient Entrance (Dove and McColl)
5502 S. McColl
Edinburg, TX 78539
Hours of operation:
M-F 9am-4pm
Contact: Gaby Reyna m.reyna@dhr-rgv.com
Office: 956-362-4405 (please call this number during business hours)
956-362-4567 (after hours messages only)
Houston Area
The Woman’s Hospital of Texas
7600 Fannin
Education Center, Suite 148
Houston, TX 77054
713-383-2895
Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30-4:30
The Woman's Place of Sugar Land
16552 A Southwest Freeway
Sugar Land, TX 77479
(Near Wendy's)
281-242-0767
Enter through the Pediatrics Entrance and stop at the desk.
Drop offs welcome from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday-Friday. Call ahead during the lunch hour, 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
Contacts: Jennifer Richardson & Frances Garcia
Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital (in the Lactation Center)
9250 Pinecroft
The Woodlands, TX 77380
Hours: Any time Mon-Fri 9-3. Call ahead to drop off Sat 10-3.
281-364-5896
New Braunfels
Christus Santa Rosa Hospital-New Braunfels
Lactation Center
600 N. Union
New Braunfels, TX 78130
830-606-9111 x6193
Hours: Mon-Fri 8-1
*Please call ahead
San Antonio
North Central Baptist Hospital
Mother's Milk First Lactation Center in the Atrium
502 Madison Oak, Suite 190
San Antonio TX 78258
210-297-4086
Northeast Baptist Hospital
8811 Village Dr.
San Antonio, TX
78217-5440
210-297-2069
*Please call ahead
Hours: Mon-Fri 9-4
Methodist Women’s Center
8109 Fredericksburg Rd.
San Antonio, TX 78229
210-575-0261
Hours: M-F 8:30-5 (closed from noon-1 p.m.)
San Marcos
Central Texas Medical Center
Postpartum Unit
1301 Wonder World Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666
512-753-3842
Waco
Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center
Mothers’ Milk Bank
110 Medical Blvd. Waco, TX 76712
Donors should go through the front entrance of the Women and Children’s Hospital, and ask for one of the lactation nurses at the Mother-Baby Area. Please call ahead and someone may be able to come meet you. Office 254-202-2706; Nurses Station 254-202-2180; or Pager 254-398-2313.
Hours: 9-3:30
