Quaglione says breast milk needed for premature babies
A Bay Ridge City Council candidate who donates his spare time to raising money for the March of Dimes is endorsing a proposal that would give mothers of premature babies easier access to breast milk donated by other moms.
John Quaglione, co-chairman of the Brooklyn Chapter of the March of Dimes New York, said a plan to have New York state allow Medicaid to cover breast milk the same way baby formula is covered has been stopped in its tracks in Albany. He is calling on the City Council and the city’s Department of Health to pick up the proposal and run with it.
“This proposal would have allowed Medicaid coverage of breast milk as formula, donated to milk banks, to foster the healthy development of babies born too early. We have to help mothers who cannot produce breast milk and families who cannot afford it for their newborn. The last thing we want is for those who need it to be forced to turn to cheaper, unregulated sources. We already have milk banks throughout New York City, so it makes perfect sense for the city to partner in an effort to magnify the positive results,” Quaglione said in a statement.