May 1, 2015
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
Vol. 33, No. 35
MUSC helps launch first Mother’s Milk Bank in state Staff Report MUSC, the South Carolina Birth Outcomes Initiative (SCBOI), the South Carolina Neonatology Consortium and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control have teamed up to open South Carolina’s first Mother’s Milk Bank to improve the health of the state’s most vulnerable infants. This milk bank will provide breast milk to very low birth-weight (VLBW) babies — infants weighing less than 3.3 pounds — in neonatal intensive care units in South Carolina. When babies are born prematurely, many of their organs are not fully developed. This puts them at risk for a number of diseases within the first weeks of life. In particular, these infants are predisposed to a deadly condition called necrotizing entercolitis (NEC), an inflammation of the gut. Two–thirds of babies who contract NEC die or develop debilitating conditions. However, this disorder can be prevented by the antibodies and nutrients found in human milk. Often, though, mothers who deliver prematurely have trouble breastfeeding their own babies because they can’t produce enough milk. In VLBW babies, breast milk is essential to increasing the survival rate and improving the development of these infants. Without a local milk bank, South Carolina hospitals have to rely on other states for
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their breast milk supply, which can lead to shortages. “MUSC and other hospitals in our state treat babies every day who, for different reasons, can’t have their mother’s own milk,” said Sarah Taylor, M.D., a neonatologist at MUSC and the new director of the Mother’s Milk Bank of South Carolina (MMBSC). “As a Baby–Friendly USA certified hospital that advocates breastfeeding, we are overjoyed to be able to help launch the state’s first milk bank and empower women to provide life — saving breast milk for sick babies in South Carolina.” Physically located in North Charleston, the milk bank, accredited by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America as a developing milk bank, will be operated by MUSC. South Carolina mothers are able to donate breast milk already at 10 satellite milk bank depots around the state with seven more milk depots to open in the next few months. The average baby in the NICU needs 8 ounces of milk per day. MMBSC expects to process and distribute more than 5,000 ounces of milk each month. ”MMBSC is a key component in continuing our efforts to advocate the importance of breast milk in the health of babies in South Carolina,” said B.Z. (Melanie) Giese, director of the Birth Outcomes Initiative for the South Carolina
Wii Fitness Study proves video games get results.
U.S. Surgeon General Murthy to speak at May 15 Commencement Staff Report Approximately 600 graduates will hear newly-appointed U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., the speaker at MUSC’s 186th Commencement on May 15, five months to the day he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The commencement ceremony will take place at 9 a.m., weather permitting, at the MUSC Horseshoe, 171 Ashley Avenue. Murthy, 37, is the first surgeon general of Indian descent. As America’s doctor, he is responsible for providing the best available scientific information to the public regarding ways to improve health. He also supervises the U.S. Public Health Service Commission
See Graduation on page 10
See Bank on page 11
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Transplant Angels
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DAISY Award
MUSC thanks troopers for going above and beyond.
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Dental Sculpture
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Meet Anna
READ THE CATALYST ONLINE - http://www.musc.edu/catalyst