I Fed My Baby Another Woman’s Breastmilk

Note: Metropolitan Breastfeeding is now a Washington DC metro area depot for the NY Milk Bank. Here is information on  four easy steps to becoming a milk donor

Have you ever wondered how and why a mother would choose to feed her baby another woman’s milk? And just who was the milk donor?  Olivia and Stacy share their story with me and you, our readers.  I hope this inspires other of you to help other women and their children in those early critical months.
 

Olivia Ellis:
Because of breast reduction surgery, I was unsure if I would be able to exclusively breastfeed. My husband and I were hopeful that our son would be able to receive all the benefits of breastmilk even if he couldn’t breastfeed from me. My doula, Ursula suggested I collect frozen breastmilk to have on-hand in case my milk did not come in. And luckily, she had been recently contacted by one of her previous clients who had a surplus amount of breastmilk stored in her deep freezer and wanted to share it with another mom.

 
Stacy Swayze:
About three months after I gave birth to my son Jack, I contacted my doula asking if she knew anyone who may need milk, she reached out to Ursula who subsequently connected Olivia.

As I originally understood the situation, a soon to be new mother who was also a client of hers was going to need milk for her new little baby boy. Despite the difficulties, it was crucially important to her that he have the chance to benefit from breast milk, if not by her, then by any source that would allow him to receive those benefits.

Having developed an understanding of how much of a benefit breast milk truly is for infant health, I wanted to do whatever I could to assist.  I didn’t even need to think about whether to say yes. As I was having no problem with my own supply, I had already been planning on donating the steadily building excess to a milk bank. When I had the chance to instead help a little boy whose needs I learned of first hand, there was really no question that it was the right thing to do. The fact that I was able to make a true, meaningful connection to through this process made the decision to donate that much more important to me. I learned that the little boy’s name was Hugo, and I was glad to learn that he took well to the milk I provided to Olivia.

Read the rest of the story at Birth You Desire!
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Have you ever donated breast milk? Have you provided your child breast milk from a donor? Share your story with us today! We love spreading awareness of milk banks!