Mothers in Allen with extra breast milk in the freezer can now drop it off minutes from home, instead of driving to Fort Worth or Dallas.

Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas, a Fort Worth-based nonprofit, opened a breast milk donation depot at Diana Health's Allen office on June 1.

The site at 1120 Raintree Circle, Suite 280, accepts frozen milk from prescreened donors on weekdays during business hours.

The donated milk goes to premature and critically ill infants in neonatal intensive care units across North Texas.

The milk bank has dispensed more than 10.1 million ounces since it began operating in 2004, with 84,906 ounces dispensed last month, according to the organization's website.

"That whole area out in Collin County, we have known for a while we really needed more depot sites out there," said Amy Trotter, community relations director for Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas. "What's really great about Diana Health is that it's not an intimidating place to park and take your milk in. This is all, for us, about helping moms with convenience."

Trotter said the ideal donor is a nursing mother who has filled her freezer, knows her baby won't use all of it and doesn't want to throw it away.

How to become a donor

Prospective donors go through a screening process that includes an interview, a health history review and a free blood test covering HIV, HTLV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis.

The milk bank covers the cost of the blood work. Donors must commit to giving at least 150 ounces total during their time in the program.

Once approved, donors freeze their expressed milk at home and bring it to the Allen depot. The milk bank then pasteurizes the donations at its Fort Worth facility before distributing them to hospitals.

Pasteurized donor milk can help prevent or aid recovery from necrotizing enterocolitis, a dangerous gut infection in premature infants, Trotter said. It is also used when a mother experiences delayed lactation or cannot provide her own milk.

Local demand is growing

The depot sits on the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen campus, where births jumped 29% in 2025 compared to the prior three-year average, reaching 536 deliveries. The hospital's six-bed NICU underscores the local need for donor milk access.

Diana Health, a New York-based women's health provider, opened its Allen office in late 2024 as its first Texas location. The clinic offers maternity care, gynecological services, mental health support and wellness coaching.

Diana Health said it welcomed the partnership as a way to support families beyond a single appointment.

How to participate

Residents interested in becoming qualified breast milk donors can visit www.texasmilkbank.org/how-to-help or call the milk bank directly.

The Allen depot is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 1120 Raintree Circle, Suite 280, on the Texas Health Allen campus.