ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Lansinoh Laboratories Inc. has donated $20,000 to help fund the new InfantRisk Center at Texas Tech University in Amarillo, Texas.

Scheduled to open this summer, the InfantRisk Center will provide pregnant and breastfeeding women and their health care providers with accurate information and evidence-based counsel on medications that are safe to use and alternatives to drug-based treatments, Lansinoh said Wednesday.

The center will also be staffed by faculty from the Texas Tech University School of Medicine departments of pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology, as well as the the Texas Tech University School of Pharmacy. This new center will be available to receive calls from mothers nationwide, and consultants will answer questions about specific prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Lansinoh noted that the InfantRisk Center will also help gather vital information about pregnancy and breastfeeding. Motherss will have the opportunity to share personal experiences, medical histories, and register in pregnancy and lactation registries, so that their information can be systematically studied and analyzed. The new information will help drive further research on the effects of medications on pregnancies, breast-fed infants, and their mothers, according to the company.

"It’s great that a resource like this will finally be available in the U.S.," commented Gina Ciagne, director of breastfeeding and consumer relations at Lansinoh. "The InfantRisk Center is going to be an excellent resource to help clear up any confusion and misinformation regarding medications and whether or not they are safe to use during pregnancy and lactation."

Also supported by the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health at the university, the InfantRisk Center is the brainchild of Dr. Thomas Hale, professor of pediatrics and assistant dean of research at the Texas Tech University School of Medicine and a top expert on the effect of medications on human lactation.

"This new center will ultimately provide millions and millions of mothers with answers to their medication questions while they are pregnant or breastfeeding," Hale said in a statement. "This new center will help distribute this information to the mothers of the world."