Many babies who desperately need donor breast milk can’t get it.
We set out to change that.
Human milk is vital for pre-term babies. Preemies who are not fed human milk have a much higher incidence of illness and death. A leading cause of death is an infection called, necrotizing enterocolitis [NEC]. 50% of the babies who get NEC die. The cost of care is exorbitant and the unimaginable human suffering is even worse. We created the Mothers Milk Cooperative to address the obstacles that prevent better access to human milk for preemies. We knew the battles that preterm infants face, and understood the challenges of the NICU. What we did not anticipate was a David and Goliath style battle to defend our right to serve the babies we have dedicated our lives to saving.
The only other company globally that offers standardized human milk products is Prolacta Bioscience. Prolacta was founded by Elena Medo - a tried and true entrepreneur, with countless patents. After leaving Prolacta in 2008, she went on to found the Mothers Milk Cooperative and Medolac Laboratories. Shortly after launching Medolac in 2013, Prolacta sued Elena. Then they sued Medolac. They then added Adrianne Weir (Elena's cofounder and daughter), and they even added an investor. This lawsuit has been dragged out for SEVEN YEARS.
Big companies often use predatory lawsuits to drain smaller competitors of assets. They have hundreds of millions of reasons why they want to keep competitors out of their market ($$$). The Mothers Milk Cooperative and Medolac have fought as long as we could. And now we are asking for help from the public.
Until now, cost has been a dramatic obstacle preventing access to roughly 80% of infants who can die without human milk. Hospitals have been paying as much as $15,000 for a one month supply of milk per baby in the NICU. Hospitals have been left with little choice but to restrict access to donor milk to only the smallest, weakest babies.
Our shelf stable, commercially stable products cut costs by more than 50%. They were even proven beneficial in clinical trials...
Through hard work and innovation, we developed the most sophisticated line of critical care nutrition products designed to overcome obstacles - and backed by a dedicated community of women who are driven to make a difference. We think it's a lot like modern day village, women helping women. And now we turn to you, our village asking that the public help us demand our right to serve sick babies. Sign and share our petition and stay tuned for news of our crowdfunding campaign.
1 in 10 families experience prematurity, and we all deserve better. Babies deserve better.
Approximately 1 out of 10 families experiences a preterm birth. Being fed a diet of human milk decreases the risk of sometimes lethal infection to less than 1% for these tiny babies. The Mothers Milk Cooperative provides cutting edge human milk nutritional products for infants in the hospital and at home. Through our innovation we have reduced costs of donor milk, and improved safety, quality and access.
Incredible women from across America make the Mothers Milk Cooperative possible. The difference they are making by providing their extra breast milk to sick babies is immeasurable, and the subsequent impact on the families and neonatology community is incredible. We will soon launch a crowdfunding campaign to ensure that our hardworking milk donors are paid for every drop of milk they have provided that was delayed due to financial hardship caused by the Prolacta lawsuit.
Together, we will continue to save lives.
We are proud members of The Female Founder Collective, a network of businesses led by women, supporting women. Their mission is to enable and empower female owned and led businesses to positively impact our communities, both socially and economically.