Medela Announces Virtual Breast Milk Collection Campaign in Honor of Prematurity Awareness Month

MCHENRY, Ill., Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela will host its second annual Human Milk (breast milk) Collection Campaign in honor of the March of Dimes' National Prematurity Awareness Month.  As part of the campaign, Medela will donate a total of $30,000 in breastfeeding support products to neonatal intensive care units across the country.

"Our goal is to continue to help raise awareness of the importance of human milk feeding -- which works like a medicine to help protect premature babies from many serious complications during and after their hospital stay," says Carolin Archibald, vice president, professional business at Medela Inc.  "We're thrilled to be able to donate products to our award recipients that will support feeding more human milk."

Research shows the more human milk feedings, the better the health outcomes for the infant.  Feeding human milk rather than formula in the NICU has shown to reduce the length of hospital stay, reduce the days of oxygen therapy needed, reduce the incidence of late onset sepsis, Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), ear infections, serious respiratory tract infections and gastroenteritis.

How the Campaign Works:

Throughout the month of November, participants can visit www.medelapreemieawareness.com to register their vote for their preferred Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  One NICU from each of six geographic regions that gets the most votes will receive at least $5,000 each worth of Medela products or education services for their facility, including Symphony® Preemie+™ program cards, Symphony breast pumps, Waterless Milk Warmers™, Creamatocrit Plus™, Transport/Discharge Bags, BabyWeigh II™ scales and/or Medela NICU Education programs.  Each person may vote only once and voting begins November 1 and continues through November 30.  For full details on the promotion, please visit www.medelapreemieawareness.com.

About Medela:

Medela provides the most technologically advanced, superior-quality breast pumps and breastfeeding accessories to nursing mothers around the world.  A longtime champion of breastfeeding, Medela is the only company to develop products based on research by the world's leading lactation experts.  As a result, Medela's breast pumps are the number one choice of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities worldwide, including 80 percent of U.S. hospitals.

Medela has developed an extensive line of products to meet the diverse needs of nursing mothers.  These products include hospital-grade, double and single electric and manual breast pumps; breastfeeding accessories such as pump cleaning products, breast care products and specialty feeding devices; and maternity and nursing intimate apparel.

Founded in 1961 by Olle Larsson in Zug, Switzerland, Medela continues to grow under the ownership of the Larsson family.  Medela serves customers through a worldwide network of distribution partners in more than 90 countries and its 14 subsidiaries in the United States, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, China and Spain.  The company entered the United States more than 25 years ago; its U.S. headquarters are located in McHenry, Illinois.

SOURCE Medela

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