As many of you may know, each year more than 500,000 babies in the U.S. are born prematurely, putting them at risk for severe health problems. Moms can help reduce some of these risks by providing their premature babies with breastmilk, which protects them from serious infections and complications during and after their hospital stay.
In honor of National Prematurity Awareness Month and Neonatal healthcare professionals nationwide, Medela will host a virtual Human Milk (breastmilk) Collection Campaign. As part of this initiative, Medela will donate $30,000 worth of breastfeeding support products to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across the country – helping moms provide their premature babies with all the benefits of breastmilk. Throughout the month of November, you can vote for your preferred NICU at www.medelapreemieawareness.com
I’m encouraging all my readers to vote for a NICU – every vote counts. To learn more about the campaign, check out the following links:
· Virtual Human Milk Collection Campaign: www.medelapreemieawareness.com
· Preemie Research Release: Unique Pumping Pattern Helps Mothers of Preemies Pump More Breastmilk
· Human Milk in the NICU backgrounder and Every Drop Counts Video: http://www.
How the Campaign Works:
Throughout the month of November, participants can visit www.medelapreemieawareness.com to register their vote for their preferred Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). One NICU from each of six geographic regions that gets the most votes will receive at least $5,000 each worth of Medela products or education services for their facility, including Symphony® Preemie+™ program cards, Symphony breast pumps, Waterless Milk Warmers™, Transport/Discharge Bags, BabyWeigh II™ scales and/or Medela NICU Education programs. Each person may vote only once and voting begins November 1 and continues through November 30. For full details on the promotion, please visit www.medelapreemieawareness.com.
About Medela:
Medela provides the most technologically advanced, superior-quality breast pumps and breastfeeding accessories to nursing mothers around the world. A longtime champion of breastfeeding, Medela is the only company to develop products based on research by the world’s leading lactation experts. As a result, Medela’s breast pumps are the number one choice of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities worldwide, including 80 percent of U.S. hospitals.
Medela has developed an extensive line of products to meet the diverse needs of nursing mothers. These products include hospital-grade, double and single electric and manual breast pumps; breastfeeding accessories such as pump cleaning products, breast care products and specialty feeding devices; and maternity and nursing intimate apparel.
Founded in 1961 by Olle Larsson in Zug, Switzerland, Medela continues to grow under the ownership of the Larsson family. Medela serves customers through a worldwide network of distribution partners in more than 90 countries and its 15 subsidiaries in the United States, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, Poland, China and Spain. The company entered the United States more than 30 years ago; its U.S. headquarters are located in McHenry, Illinois