Mabel,
One day you'll read this and it'll start a conversation about how when you were a baby, you drank human milk from me and it gave you the most luscious cheeks, plentiful arm rolls and adorable leg dimples. Then I'll tell you all about how the very same milk that helped you grow also helped nourish other babies around the United States. Here's a little testimonial I wrote about my experience with milk donation, The National Milk Bank and Prolacta Bioscience.
"It’s an amazing and empowering experience to provide
nutrients for your child and I feel incredibly fortunate that my body is able
to supply my daughter with all of the nourishment her growing body needs.
While pregnant, I extensively researched breastfeeding and all of its
irreplaceable benefits. I knew that I wholeheartedly wanted to
breastfeed, but also knew that many complications can surface that may hinder a
mother’s ability to exclusively nurse her baby. After giving birth to my
daughter and beginning our nursing relationship, it was quickly apparent that I
was producing much more milk than my daughter would ever need or want. Knowing
the incredible benefits of breast milk, I researched milk banks in hopes that
my extra milk could be put to good use. I was impressed with The National
Milk Bank’s mission to provide precious human milk to micro-preemies and was in
awe of the technology used by their affiliate Prolacta Bioscience that would
allow my milk to be pasteurized, fortified and distributed to hospitals.
I immediately contacted them in hopes of starting the application
process. Qualifying to become a donor is a multi-step and thorough
process and the level of detail that goes into donor screening should be
comforting to any parent of a child using donated human milk. The team at the
National Milk Bank works hard to ensure the process is smooth for donors and
that only milk of the highest quality is accepted. I am so happy to be part of
the National Milk Bank family and am honored to be helping babies across the
nation through breast milk donation. I look forward to the day that I can tell
my daughter that she shared her nourishment and helped save tiny lives!"
Thanks for being such a great sharer already, Mabel. Mama loves you so much!
Jenna- you are amazing! What a wonderful gift you are giving to others who truly need those special nutrients. As a mom who breastfeeding just didn't work out for despite major efforts, I at least knew my girls were thriving and getting enough with a combo of bm and formula. Some preemies really need the major benefits of exclusive breast milk and you are giving them that extra boost that they need. Thanks for writing your story in such a compassionate way without judgement for those who cannot breast feed. We all want what is best for our kids and you are doing a great thing allowing other moms to be able to give their babies a boost in life. Mabel will be so proud!:)
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