Health care
BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN
First milk bank in South Texas underway
Explained
A milk bank operates similarly to a food bank, but instead of handling canned goods, doctors are caring for “life-saving nutrition,” Ugalde said. Donors will be required to go through a screening process to ensure that mothers donating their milk are healthy. Once donor milk is received, doctors process and pasteurize it. Pasteurization is a gentle heating process that removes harmful bacteria and viruses while keeping most of the natural nutrients and immune-boosting properties needed for medically fragile babies. Only donated milk that passes each checkpoint is clear for distribution, Ugalde said. “At its core, a milk bank is a community safety net, families helping families, supported by rig- orous food safety handling practices that protect the health of our most vulnerable newborns,” she said.
Ugalde said. “It will be the rst milk bank in the city and the rst in South Texas, closing a major gap in access.” Milk banks are rare nationwide. Ugalde said there is not one milk bank per state, so donor milk is consistently in short supply. “Having a local milk bank matters because it increases access, it shortens the distance that milk has to travel and also helps ensure that medically fragile infants in our community can receive the support that they need,” Ugalde said.
Construction on University Health’s Milk Bank, an 8,000-square-foot milk bank located within the hospital’s main campus, began in early 2026. University Health’s Milk Bank will be the rst milk bank in South Texas, University Health Milk Bank Director Maciel Ugalde said. Right now, families in New Braunfels and San Antonio rely on the Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin, which is located in the North Austin area. “San Antonio and the broader South Texas region doesn’t have a milk bank yet, but the University Health Milk Bank will change that,”
Assessing the need There are 32 milk banks in North America and only two in the state of Texas, according to the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.
HMBANA Member Milk Banks
MN
OR
What else?
1
NY
CA
MI
IA
PA
MA
OH
UT
IN
IL
CO
NC VA
The donor breast milk will support infants in the neonatal intensive care unit and breastfeeding mothers. Ugalde said having access to safe, donated breast milk can ease stress for mothers who have complications or give them an outlet to donate their milk if they have lost their baby. The University Health Milk Bank is anticipated to open in spring 2027.
TN AL
OK
NM
AK
NC
2
TX
LA
FL
3
NOTE: THREE LOCATIONS IN CANADA ARE NOT SHOWN ON THE U.S. MAP.
N
1 Dallas-Fort Worth 2 Austin 3 San Antonio
University Health Milk Bank
SOURCE: HUMAN MILK BANKING ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA COMMUNITY IMPACT
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