June 3, 2026

A Lifeline for Fragile Newborns: St. Bernadine’s NICU Breast Pump Program

At St. Bernardine Medical Center, a simple idea is helping some of the community’s most vulnerable babies get a healthier start to life: ensuring mothers of premature infants have access to breast pumps when they need them most. 

In 2025, the hospital partnered with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health’s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program to provide qualifying mothers with medical-grade electric breast pumps. 

“Premature babies often must stay in the hospital while their moms go back home, but that makes it hard for babies to get the breast milk they need to stay healthy,” said Christian Starks, Director of Community Health at St. Bernardine. 

The program focuses on mothers whose babies are admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), often unexpectedly and under difficult circumstances. Babies born before 37 weeks are considered premature and are more likely to require NICU inpatient stays. Families frequently find themselves unprepared emotionally, financially, and logistically for an early delivery.

“The last thing those moms need to worry about is whether their baby gets to eat breast milk,” Starks said.

The barriers can be overwhelming. Mothers may lack reliable transportation to the hospital, have other children at home, or face competing family obligations. Without access to a breast pump, some mothers may struggle to maintain milk production during the critical early weeks after birth.

More than one-third of low-birthweight infants leave California NICUs without receiving breast milk, according to the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative. Insufficient breast milk can increase developmental and clinical risks for premature babies.

Over the past year, the loan program has already served 22 mothers. 

“It’s all about the baby’s survival. That’s what the mom wants, that’s what we want, and that’s what the community wants,” Starks said.