Britney

I’ve donated hair, blood, toys and clothes to orphanages, food, money … Now, I can add milk to the list.

Right after my son was born, I never thought of donating. The thought emerged when my supply came in strong and I pumped for a little relief and quickly my freezer space began to lessen. I exclusively breastfed my baby and I stayed at home, so I didn’t really need to have a stash.

That’s when I began thinking about what I could do with the extra milk. The fire began to ignite when I thought of giving my milk to babies in need. I started researching places to donate and through a local support group someone recommended the Mothers’ Milk Bank of Mississippi. I gave them a call and proceeded with the interview. After approval and receiving my donor number, I was a little disheartened because the closest drop off location was so far away. I actually stopped pumping about 4 months in and allowed my supply to regulate.

There were rumors that a drop off site would come to my hometown. A few months later, I was tagged on Facebook in a post about our local hospital having a ribbon cutting for a Mothers’ Milk Bank drop off site. The fire was re-lit to donate. Once I completed my blood work at our hospital, I dropped off my first donation of the required 100oz. At this point, I made it my mission to restart pumping to increase my supply for donating purposes specifically. It took about a week and a half of dedication to get my supply back up. I did this all while exclusively nursing on demand. Talk about exhausting, but I DID IT!!!

With pumping once or twice a day, from June to October, I had donated a total of 690oz of my milk; that’s a little over 5 gallons of milk! I had a goal of 1000oz, but my baby has been so active it became difficult to get in a pumping session. I still hope to be able to meet that goal when my son decides to wean. If not, I am still proud to know that my milk has helped many babies!