On a personal note – Becoming a breast milk donor

I have in the past shared my experience and journey of breast feeding Maddie and tonight I couldn’t be prouder to share a very exciting update in my journey.

In short – my breastfeeding journey started off rough – I think like most new moms – it was hard, I cried – a lot! I couldn’t see myself making it past six weeks let alone six months. It was uncomfortable, it was painful, it was an inconvenience and I felt like I couldn’t possibly be producing enough life giving substance to alone keep my child alive. Fast forward 10 months later to months of dedication and perseverance and Maddie is still exclusively breast fed – meaning she hasn’t had to drink a drop of formula. This is something I am extremely proud of`and wouldn’t trade for the world.

Today I am so internally grateful for this journey. I have learnt so much about myself and I have greatly seen the benefits my daughter has taken from being breastfed. It is a journey I am completely loving and I am brought to tears thinking that one day I will have to stop needing to breastfeed my daughter. There isn’t a more special bond than to feed her and knowing what my milk does for her.

I have finally come to a place in my breast feeding journey where Maddie is no longer needing to be fed by the breast every three hours as she has solid meals which replace feeds and I am still producing and expressing an over supply. I have managed to pump and freeze over six lettres which I will most properly not ever need to use.

Once I got past three months of breast feeding I set the goal that I would one day express to donate to a children’s home or hospital for the babies who so desperately need breast milk. Today, seven months later – I made the plunge and contacted the La Lucia Baby House to sign up to become an official milk donor on their registry.

The process was so easy and truly required no effort! A volunteer from the home comes straight to your home to do a prick HIV test to ensure you are a safe donor along with a form which needs to be filled out and the milk is taken away to go through the pasteurization process before it is given to the prem babies are the home.

You are given bottles to fill in your own time and they are fetched from your home once you contact the home to fetch them. Every precious drop counts so even if half a bottle gets filled up once a week – the home so desperately need the milk.

With only a handful of dedicated donors, the La Lucia Baby House get in prem babies who have been diagnosed with a failure to thrive future and so desperately need breast milk to help them grow – breast milk truly gives them life when formula cannot match what breast milk can do for them.

I am so honoured to have been able to share my liquid gold with these babies and when asked where I find the time or how do I find it in my heart to do such a ‘selfless act’ – the answer is easy – I do! I have been incredibly blessed to have been able to breast feed my daughter and how can I not extend the work of God and help these babies? The extra expressing and dedication is not completely selfless – by adding in extra expression sessions I am keeping up my supply for my daughter and will ensure that I continue to produce milk for her and for these precious babies.

For the mamas who are thinking of becoming a donor I urge you to seriously look into it! Whether you have been breast feeding for six weeks or six months – you can do it! The process is so easy and your milk is so desperately needed! You can even come through and visit the home and actually meet, hold and cuddle the babies you get to feed! There is no greater feeling!

You can contact the La Lucia Baby House on 084 989 5432 or email sheila@babyhouse.org.za or visit babyhouse.org.za for more information