Yesterday we told you about the Mother’s Milk Bank of Ohio (MMBO), a program that provides pasteurized donor breast milk to infants and toddlers with life-threatening illnesses whose mothers cannot provide human milk.
Many moms find the program to be a rewarding way to help others by donating excess milk they know their child will never be able to use, as this video shows.
Another unique aspect of the MMBO program is the opportunity it provides to aid mothers in the grieving process after a critically ill infant dies. Many of these moms have stored a great deal of milk in the neonatal intensive care unit. As they prepare to go home, they have no use for the milk that they pumped and stored while their infant was in the hospital.
Milk donation is an option for grieving mothers who wish to donate either their frozen milk or fresh milk while weaning. And while the thought may seem unfathomable, much like considering organ donation after a sudden, tragic accident, one bereaved mother felt like it gave her the permanent connection to her son that she needed then and forever.
Here is one mom’s story told in her own words and shared publicly with the MMBO blog community.
For more information, contact the Cincinnati Children’s Center for Breastfeeding Medicine at 513-636-2326, or the Mothers’ Milk Bank of Ohio at 614-544-0810 or by email at milkbank@ohiohealth.com.
