We are very pleased to introduce Leanne, who generously wanted to share her journey with us as a breast milk donor.
Giving Back… My Milk Donation Journey.
On 29th March 2024, my worst fears came true. ‘You need to be transferred to another hospital; you are losing your waters.’
After spending the day with friends and family on Good Friday I became very uncomfortable and in pain. After calling my local hospital triage they agreed to see me. Around 11pm we arrived, and various tests and examinations began. First of all, my bloods were showing high infection markers, as well as my urine. I was then swabbed internally, and this showed I had been losing my amniotic fluid and at this point I was only 25 weeks and 5 days gestation! Therefore, I needed to be transferred to a level 3 hospital (ours is only a level 1).
The closest one was already full so therefore, by the time they found me a bed, I was being blue lighted by ambulance at 4am to St Peter’s hospital in Chertsey which was over an hour away from us.
I spent 3 days on a ward being monitored and the plan was to try and get me to 28 weeks gestation for better chances of baby being ok. I thought I was going to be going home on strict bed rest.
However, the day we would have been discharged, I started getting pains and tightening again in my stomach.
Overnight was so so painful and unfortunately, as I wasn’t on a delivery ward, all they could give me was paracetamol for the pain!
C-Section
The following morning it became apparent that I was now passing the infection out which became a big risk of sepsis to the baby, so I was moved to a delivery room for closer monitoring. By this point we had reached 26 weeks and 2 days gestation. The baby was in a breach position so I was informed we would need an emergency c-section for the quickest and safest delivery.
At 12.44pm on 2nd April we welcomed our little girl, Daphne, weighing a teeny 1lb 11oz! She was breathing on her own and had 3 minutes delayed cord clamping which is just amazing!
After surgery I was wheeled back to a recovery ward whilst my husband went to see our little girl in the NICU ward.
Daphne needs colostrum
The midwives came in to me and asked if they could see if my body would produce any colostrum, which would be vital for Daphne. They didn’t expect a lot to happen, their words were ‘even a drop is amazing.’
They managed to get a whopping 3.5ml from me by them hand expressing, which blew them away that my body was producing that at just 26 weeks!
I continued to then pump and hand express until my milk came fully in. Our little girl was on donor milk (topping up what I was expressing) for around 2 days before I was able to produce enough for full feeds.
I stuck to strict 3 hourly pumping schedules to get my supply in and this then meant in time I was producing so well I was filling the freezer in the hospital!
We spent 5 weeks in St Peter’s before being moved back to our local hospital. By this point I had already filled one under counter freezer at home and was starting to fill a second one.
I had a blood test done whilst Daphne was in our local hospital to become a milk donor.
Hearts Milk Bank
Fast forward a little bit, I registered with Hearts Milk Bank who have a local hub near me, to become a donor!
So far in the first 3 weeks of being a donor I have managed to supply 5L to them.
It makes me feel super, super proud knowing I can give back something that helped my little girl so much in her first couple of days and helps take away that extra bit of stress if you can’t provide enough yourself. Because let’s face it, stress doesn’t help your supply!
I have learnt so much since being a milk donor about how it isn’t just premature babies who need the milk!
I’ve always wanted to be a blood donor, but I always pass out, so this makes me feel amazing knowing I’m giving back in another way.
I will continue to be a donor for as long as my supply allows me 🤍🥛
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It’s lovely to hear the other side of this journey, from the donor’s perspective. Xx
