We’re fairly confident that you’ve donated various items such as food, clothes, toys and money to charities. But, when Texas-based mom Mikah Duncan decided to donate her breast milk, well we had to take a pause and learn more about her incredible story.
When you deliver a child, one of the first things that you need to learn is how to breastfeed your baby. While the process is natural for many moms, many others have to make efforts to nurse their little darling. Sometimes, sickness or medications, or a condition can keep you from feeding your baby breastmilk. Mikah, who delivered three months premature baby “Cash”, wasn’t allowed to cuddle, swaddle or even breastfeed her newborn. So, she began to do the only thing she could: express (pump) milk.
Cash’s premature birth had much to do with Mikah’s shortened cervix. However, that hasn’t stopped Mikah from pumping breast milk.
The journey has been anything but easy. When Mikah began pumping breast milk, she could collect only a syringe’s worth of the liquid. But, with time, and through motivation, Mikah continued to pump breast milk once every two hours.
Mikah to ABC News: “My husband would wheel me down to the NICU to deliver this tiny bit of milk, and I felt so defeated, but I had to keep trying.”
Soon, the milk production increased. From two ounces of milk, it went up to four, and then six ounces. The nurses told her that she had enough in store for Cash. But Mikah realized that she wasn’t going to need any of that extra milk she was still pumping. So, she decided to help the hospital out by donating all of the extra milk she had been pumping.
The hospital usually accepts donations which are above 100 ounces. The amount of milk she donated was around 15.5 gallons, or 59 liters! She may not be superwoman, but she is super.
“Just to help in a small way, feels amazing,” says Mikah. And, boy, don’t we agree with her!
