Since I went back to work when Imogen was 3 months old, I have continued to breastfeed, so every day at work I have to pump. I've been storing the milk for Imogen to eat while I'm at work, but have been fortunate enough to pump more milk every day than she eats. Slowly over the past 5 1/2 months, I've been filling our freezer to the point of max capacity. It got to where we couldn't even store much food in it! So, I decided to do something. I searched online and found a community called "Milkshare" where people go who want to donate breastmilk or receive breastmilk for their babies. I found 2 very lovely families and this past Friday, donated 200 ounces of my breastmilk to each of them. It's something that was very hard to do, but I know that other babies can benefit from it just as Imogen has.
One family was local here in Pittsburgh and their baby girl was a micro-preemie born at 24 weeks 1 day. She was only 1 pound 2 ounces at birth and survived! She was born at the same hospital as Imogen. The little girl is now 10 months old and such a tiny peanut at only 12 pounds. Imogen was huge compared to her. The mother breastfed for as long as she could, but after 6 months her milk went away and they've been using donor breastmilk ever since. They understand the wonderful properties of breastmilk and know how it is very different from formula, especially in the case of their special little girl.
The other family was from northern Virginia. They adopted a baby girl who was born in Missouri. She is just a month old. The mother also understands how important breastmilk is for her little girl, so has decided to seek it out rather than use all formula, although they have had to supplement.
Why would someone want another mother's breastmilk, you ask? The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends feeding an infant (in the following order):
1) The mother's breastmilk from her breast
2) The mother's breastmilk from a bottle
3) Another mother's breastmilk from a bottle
4) Commercial Formula
It made me feel very happy that I could help 2 other little babies as much as I am loving feeding Imogen. I will continue to donate in the future if I can, and encourage others to as well if it works for their family!
Visit www.milkshare.com for more information.
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1 comment:
I think it is WONDERFUL that you did this:) How generous---and what a way to help out someone in need! No big surprise though---you are an amazing friend! And hey--I can vouch for ya---you had a TON of breast milk in that freezer..... I was shocked the first time I opened it during my house sitting:) HAHA!
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