Medela Announces Virtual Human Milk Collection Campaign Award Recipients in Honor of 2010 Prematurity Awareness Month

MCHENRY, Ill., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela announced today the award recipients from its November Virtual Human Milk (breastmilk) Collection Campaign in honor of the March of Dimes' National Prematurity Awareness Month. This year 4,750 participated in the campaign, voting for their preferred Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In addition, the number of winning hospitals grew from only four last year to six in 2010.  Each of the following hospitals will receive $5,000 in neonatal human milk support products from Medela:

• Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL.
• Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, Gulfport, MS.
• Altru Health System, Grand Forks, ND.
• Dubois Regional Medical Center, Dubois, PA.
• Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI.
• University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque, NM.

"One of our goals is to continue to raise awareness of the importance of human milk 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 are very excited that this year participation grew by 14 percent.  We are also thrilled to donate products to award recipients which will help provide more human milk to their vulnerable patients."

Research shows that the more human milk feedings, the better the health outcomes for the infant.  Feeding more 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 Worked:

Throughout the month of November, 4,750 individuals visited www.MedelaPreemieAwareness.com to register their vote for their preferred Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  The six NICUs, one in each of six geographic regions, that obtained the most votes will now receive at least $5,000 each worth of Medela products or education services for their facility, including Symphony(r) Preemie+(tm) program cards, Symphony breast pumps, Waterless Milk Warmers(tm) Disposable Warmer Inserts, Creamatocrit Plus(tm), Transport/Discharge Bags, BabyWeigh(tm) scales and/or Medela NICU Education programs.

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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