Mum Jodie donates 60 litres to Birmingham Women’s milk bank in three months
Jodie, from Redditch, has donated 60 litres to the milk bank at Birmingham Women’s Hospital since she first started donating at the end of February.
Jodie has been donating to the milk bank since having her second child and wanted to donate to help other babies and families.
Jodie said: “Despite being a premature baby myself, I’d not previously heard of human milk donors.
"Since becoming a donor and raising awareness of the importance of it on social media, so many people have reach out to me to say how amazing it is and that they’re also surprised they’ve never heard of it.
“I first became aware of milk banks a few years ago when I read a very inspiring article about someone that donated their milk. It talked about the benefits donor milk has on very sick and premature baby and I knew that it was something I’d like to do in future.
"My second child was born in January - I am exclusively expressing milk for her and thought it would be a great opportunity to look properly into donating."
The milk bank at our Women’s Hospital provides donor breast milk to our own neonatal babies, as well as to other hospitals, and offers donor milk to support mothers who are still establishing their own milk supply or are unable to.
For Jodie, this was a big motivation for when she decided to donate.
She said “I regularly donate blood, and I try to volunteer and help out wherever I can, so the most rewarding thing is just knowing that it’s going to babies who need it.
“I’ve had so many people ask me for more details on how they can donate, and I've even had parents thank me for donating as their children needed donor milk whilst on hospital and I had no idea.
“One of my close friends has triplets and they needed donor milk whilst in hospital.
“I remember how much of a struggle they had after being born and knowing that it could have helped saved their lives and it’s come through people like me who are donating is the most rewarding feeling.”
Jodie has spoken to friends and family about donating, and is encouraging other people to try to donate too.
She commented “If you think it’s going to be a difficult process, it’s really not. I had an initial blood test at my local GP, empty milk bottles get delivered to my house and then the full bottles get collected from my house at my convenience.
“I have two children under two, so I was surprised at how easy it’s been for me, it doesn’t feel like I'm doing much more than I’d have done if I wasn’t donating.
“I have donated 60 litres so far since I started donating at the end of February.”
If you would like more information about donating or have any questions, please get in touch on 0121 335 8245 or bwc.milk.bank@nhs.net.