Braum’s $500K gift funds Mercy’s new NICU milk room

OKLAHOMA CITY Hospital officials and donors gathered Friday to dedicate a space to safely store and prepare breast milk and formula for hospitalized infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City.

A $500,000 donation from Oklahoma-based Braum’s Inc. fully funded the NICU milk room, which is expected to serve nearly 600 babies each year.

Mercy has planned for years for a dedicated sterile environment where certified milk technicians will prepare breast milk and formula daily for the hospital’s tiniest patients.

“It is the gold standard for a NICU to have a milk room,” said Laura Beck, executive director of nursing. “That is medicine for them. We have to get that right.”

Mercy leaders were joined by Drew Braum, president and CEO of Braum’s Ice Cream & Dairy Stores, to celebrate the opening of the new space.

“It is an honor to partner with Mercy and the Love Family Women’s Center to bring another element of critical infant care to Oklahoma City with Braum’s Infant Milk Room,” Braum said. “We knew right away that we wanted to be a part of this fantastic project to give babies and their families better access to breast milk and formula during such a vital time.”

Beck said a storage area and part of a waiting room in the NICU were converted into the milk room.

“A lot of babies stay for weeks after Mom is discharged,” Beck said. Moms can pump at home and parents can bring the milk to the hospital to be labeled and stored for their newborn.

Mercy hopes to serve as a drop-off location for donated breast milk soon. Donated breast milk helps families who choose breast milk but can’t provide it themselves or can’t provide enough to meet their baby’s needs.

“Breast milk is 100% the best,” Beck said. “We’re very much pro-breastfeeding here at Mercy.”

In the first few days after birth, moms produce a nutrient-rich fluid called colostrum. Beck said it is usually golden yellow in color and referred to as “liquid gold” because of its high nutritional value to newborns, especially “microbabies” born at 24 to 25 weeks’ gestation.

“When you have a child staying in the NICU, all you want to do as a parent is help them grow and thrive. Providing milk is one thing they can do to help their child,” said Brandy Chaney, manager of the NICU.

Mercy’s NICU is connected via a sky bridge to the new $98 million Love Family Women’s Center, which opened April 7 on the campus at 4300 W. Memorial Rd. The facility allows Mercy to increase the number of babies delivered annually from 4,000 to 6,000.

It includes 15 labor and delivery rooms, a low-intervention birthing unit and an obstetrics emergency room for urgent pregnancy-related concerns.

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