Bereaved Mum shares her story of loss and human milk donation to encourage other mums to donate 

This week is Baby Loss Awareness Week (October 9-15) and The Western Trust is raising awareness for the Human Milk Bank and the benefits of donating breast milk after a baby is lost in pregnancy or soon after birth.

Liz Bailie, Human Milk Bank Co-Coordinator has urged mums who sadly lose their precious baby to consider donating milk in memory of them so that their baby’s legacy can live on.  

Liz explains: “Parents can find that expressing milk for the Human Milk Bank can be comforting which helps the bereavement process. Parental grief is very complex and personal and this may not be a choice for everyone.

“We have many mum’s who express for donation following the loss of their baby."

One of The Trust's bereaved donor Mums, Maxine McFarland, shared her son Daniel’s story in a bid to encourage other mums to donate.

Maxine said: "Our beautiful little boy Daniel was born with Edwards syndrome, a rare and life limiting condition. 

"He was a very special boy indeed and we are so grateful for him. Sadly, his esophagus did not join up with his stomach. This meant that Daniel was unable to feed at all.

"As a mother, my job was to love and feed my baby. Without doubt I could love Daniel and did, but I was unable to feed him in any way. I was devastated.

"With the help of staff at NICU I was able to express and give small amounts of colostrum to Daniel for his comfort and, indeed, mine.

"Later I was given a double pump and all the equipment and advice required to express milk for the milk bank.

"There are some technical and scientific aspects to pumping and storing milk but with support and information I was able to overcome these challenges and get into a routine."

Baby Daniel lived for 39 hours over three calendar days. He was buried three days later. 

Maxine continued: "The first opportunity I had to pump was the evening of his funeral, day six. I pumped off 80mls from very full breasts. 

"I felt positive. I pumped 8-12 times a day for the next three days and got nothing. With self-compassion, I decided to ‘take the next day off’ and perhaps accept that my body would not be able to do this. 

"However, when I pumped that evening I got 20mls which encouraged me. The next day I got 40-60mls each pump and was able to donate milk after just a few weeks of approximately five pumps a day.  

"In my process I was so conscious of how challenging it is for some mums of babies in NICU who perhaps, like me, may not be able to pump milk right away or where supply is affected by medication or shock and stress. 

"These mums really need the milk that other mums can provide, and their babies depend on it. I know firsthand the devastating feeling of not being able to feed your baby.

"I am very grateful that I was able to provide milk for the milk bank and learn that Daniel’s milk helped many premature and surgical babies and hopefully brought comfort to their mummies."

The bank helps babies with major gut or heart problems by providing milk to their home. Through the generosity of its donors, the milk bank provides very special help for the nation’s most vulnerable babies.

The Western Trust Milk Bank opened in August 2000. Since then it has helped thousands of neonatal babies all over Ireland.

In 2021 their Human Milk Bank processed a total donation of 2,142 litres of donor expressed milk and provided approximately 1,427 litres of breast milk to 27 neonatal units in hospitals across Ireland, helping 844 babies, including 100 sets of twins and 11 sets of triplets.

For more information on the Western Trust's Human Milk Bank, please visit: https:// westerntrust.hscni.net/ service/human-milk-bank/