Mexican mama Maria tells how an experience on her New Hampshire vacation led her to milk donation.
I want to tell you about my experience donating milk. My family and I are from Mexico. Last year we were vacationing in New Hampshire–my husband, my daughter Catalina and I–and I was 7 months pregnant at the time. I wasn’t feeling well and went to see the gynecologist. They detected placental insufficiency and I had to have an emergency c-section. The situation was very difficult, because what was supposed to be a two-week vacation turned into a mandatory two-month stay. The baby was born very small and had to be in intensive care at Elliot Hospital.
Many helping hands
During such trying circumstances, we encountered so many helping hands. We never imagined we would find so much support. From the nurses to the doctors, to the hospital administration, everyone helped us.
Our baby was pushing forward. She was fragile, as her intestine was not ready to work and she had blood in her bowel movements. She wasn’t allowed to consume anything by mouth, so she was fed through a tube directly to the stomach.
I had an abundance of milk.
My husband and I decided to try to give back as much as possible, in some way. We decided to donate the milk my baby was not going to drink and give some family the opportunity to receive it. It was a painstaking process. I had blood drawn for several tests, there were several phone calls. It was all worth it. We were able to donate so, so much milk that my baby had to stop drinking due to health issues, and we were able to give it to another baby.
When they finally let us go home, our baby was able to breastfeed with no further complications.
Grateful to have donated milk
After this experience, we were so grateful to have donated milk. It’s a feeling money cannot buy because it gives the opportunity to babies whose mothers unfortunately did not have milk to have it. It also allows their immune systems to develop and helps them in the difficult stage of the first months after birth. Certainly we’ll never meet those we were able to help, but we leave with full hearts and a clear conscience, knowing that we were able to do something for someone who needed it.
Thanks for letting us help.
Lea la historia de María en español.
