Chelsea Webster is providing countless premature and sick babies with liquid gold – safe, screened and pasteurised donor breastmilk.
Her role as Unit Manager at Victoria’s only Breastmilk Bank located at Mercy Hospital for Women in Heidelberg means she is helping provide donated breastmilk to vulnerable babies at a critical time in the early stages of their life.
The breastmilk bank can have up to 40 breastmilk donors at a time, feeding up to 30 premature babies a month.
There are challenges the unit faces – not having enough space, low donor supply, compliance and restrictions for donor eligibility.
But, thanks to the generosity of Mercy Health Foundation donors, the unit has been able to purchase a vital piece of equipment – an air conditioner.
The unit faces strict legislation and is heavily regulated and can provide services to babies around Victoria, as part of compliance practices.
“The air conditioner has been a game changer,” says Chelsea.
The small unit includes fridges, freezers, dishwashers and more and can sometimes in summer get up to 30 degrees, which is not ideal for processing, pasteurisation and the safekeeping of precious breastmilk.
“Due to the high temperatures in the unit, and humidity from outside, we would get condensation dripping from the freezers on to the floor, which can breed bacteria. We urgently needed an air conditioner,” says Chelsea.
The air conditioner is a hard-working piece of equipment, set to the perfect temperature, 24 hours, seven days a week.
It’s the small things like this for Chelsea that make such a big difference to her already rewarding job. Chelsea has high hopes for the expansion of satellite sites across Victoria to help provide pasteurised donated breastmilk to even more vulnerable babies.
For more information about funding programs like the Breastmilk Bank and more major Mercy Health projects, please contact Vicky Kapourelakos, Philanthropy Manager, [email protected].
You can also make a donation to the Breastmilk Bank.