Not being able to breastfeed my daughter went against every maternal instinct within me.
“Your breasts must be clear of milk ahead of surgery.”
Through advice from my breast surgeon, I learned after diagnosis that I couldn't breastfeed because having milk in your breasts may complicate and lengthen the surgery. This was one of the most difficult hurdles because I breastfed our son and naturally wanted to do the same for our daughter.
My sister had flown to the UK just days before I was planned to be induced and was able to express enough milk for us to feed Clara for the early days of her life. However, Clara’s demand quickly exceeded what my sister was able to supply, given she was still feeding her 10 month old. We resorted to formula but much to our dismay, Clara didn’t take to it as her premature digestive system wasn’t able to digest the milk easily. As we struggled to settle her, I felt increasingly frustrated and began looking for other options. I’d heard of milk banks and decided to google our nearest one which was in Chertsey . My heart sank when I was told that they don’t provide donor milk for the public. However, the lady I spoke to called back and read out a leaflet she had been given about the Hearts Milk Bank. I spoke to my husband and we decided to find out more. That night we tried formula again and Clara still struggled to keep it down. Anxiously, as I sat up in the early hours that Saturday morning, I decided to text the out of hours Hearts Milk Bank phone number asking for a call back.
One of the founders, Dr Natalie Shenker rang later that morning and we had a long chat about the incredible work they do to support mothers who cannot breastfeed for medical reasons. We were reassured that the donor milk provided is safe, screened, pasteurised, contains antibodies that are not found in formula and adhere to NHS NICE guidelines. Amazingly, Natalie arranged for us to receive 7 litres of donor milk that very evening! She even personally drove the 3 hour round trip to deliver it to us. This was a huge boost and relief to us as we were able to defrost a bottle immediately.
Although for me, nothing could have replaced the joy of breastfeeding my baby; The Hearts Milk Bank enabled us to do the next best thing – to feed precious donor breastmilk to our daughter. The difference the donor milk has made to Clara is nothing short of miraculous. She is able to easily digest the milk without the constant struggle we saw her have when feeding her formula milk. As I wait to have mastectomy surgery, the pleasure of being able to feed Clara donor milk and seeing her put on weight] has been so positive. The sight of her little red book documenting her weight gain makes us so happy . It has also helped me overcome the difficult emotions of being unable to breastfeed Clara myself. I cannot thank Natalie, Gillian and the HMB team enough for the precious milk they’ve provided us. It really has made a huge difference to our life and to Clara’s.
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