New Pennsylvania law expands access and coverage for babies needing donor breast milk
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A new law takes effect across Pennsylvania on Jan. 20 that will help medically fragile babies.
Act 32, known as Owen's Law, will provide medical coverage for breast milk that's been donated and pasteurized for infants whose mother's milk is not available.
Leaders celebrated at the Mid-Atlantic Mother's Milk Bank in Pittsburgh. Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen explained that donated human milk is the standard of care in NICUs.
"Pasteurized donor milk can be life-saving if a mother's own milk is not available. We know when infants born early are fed an only-human milk diet during critical times, they have better outcomes," Bogen said.
Eleven percent of babies born in Pennsylvania and West Virginia are born premature. Studies have found those babies in the NICU who get donated breast milk have lower rates of serious complications.
The new state law will allow babies to get the milk without a huge financial burden to the families.
