Medela Recognizes National Prematurity Awareness Month With Virtual Human Milk Collection Campaign

Medela Recognizes National Prematurity Awareness Month With Virtual Human Milk
Collection Campaign
Medela to donate $20,000 in Neonatal Human Milk Support Products to Neonatal
Intensive Care Units

MCHENRY, Ill., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela today announced it will host a
Virtual Human Milk (breastmilk) Collection Campaign in honor of the March of
Dimes' National Prematurity Awareness Month and the thousands of dedicated
Neonatal healthcare professionals nationwide.

Throughout the month of November, individuals can visit
www.medelapreemieawareness.com to register their vote for their preferred
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The four NICUS, one in each of four
geographic regions, that obtain the most votes will receive at least $5,000
each worth of Medela products or education services for their facility,
including Symphony(r) Preemie+(tm) program cards, Symphony breastpumps,
Waterless Milk Warmers(tm), Creamatocrit Plus(tm), Transport/Discharge Bags,
BabyWeigh(tm) scales and/or Medela NICU Education programs.

"Medela is committed to providing Neonatal healthcare professionals with
products and education to help them better promote and provide the life saving
benefits of breastmilk for the premature infants in their care," says Carolin
Archibald, vice president, professional business at Medela Inc. "Human milk
works like a medicine to help protect premature babies from many complications
during and after their hospital stay."

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 Entercolitis
(NEC), ear infections, serious respiratory tract infections and
gastroenteritis.

How to vote:

By voting, individuals are helping their preferred NICUs to potentially
receive products and services from Medela. Vote by visiting
www.medelapreemieawareness.com/ and completing and submitting the registration
form beginning on November 1, 2009 through November 30, 2009. Each individual
may only vote for one NICU. Winning NICU facilities will be notified by
December 10, 2009. Full participation guidelines, terms and conditions are
available at
http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/preemie-awareness-month-rules.

"It is critical to equip NICUs with the products and knowledge needed to
promote and provide the life giving benefits of human milk to the one in eight
babies born prematurely each year in the U.S.," adds Archibald. "We hope this
Virtual Human Milk Collection campaign brings awareness to this issue while
rewarding outstanding NICU facilities that care for premature infants."

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
13 subsidiaries in the United States, Switzerland, 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

Lori Bolas of Medela, Inc., +1-815-578-2452, lori.bolas@medela.com ; or Emily
Reed of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, +1-312-397-6056,
emily.reed@ogilvypr.com, for Medela, Inc.