Guarding premature babies by drops of donors’ motherly love

The HKBMB has been opened in January this year. The three registered milk donors in first batch, Katrina (left), Yoyo (right), and Yan, embody a profound love of “caring for others’ children as her own.” Through donating breast milk, they hope to share maternal love and blessings with babies in need, and guard the fragile young lives to grow up strong and healthy.

Katrina: Every drip of breast milk is precious

“Some mothers may struggle to provide sufficient breast milk for their babies, but we other mothers are here to support them. So, please do not feel discouraged.”

Like many new mothers, Katrina, who has just become a mother for three months, often experienced low mood and anxiety due to hormonal changes, blaming herself for her daughter’s health issues. Since her daughter’s birth, she has been tirelessly pumping milk, aiming to provide the best nutrition for her daughter. She recounted moments of despair when her milk supply suddenly dropped. “My daughter had been exclusively breastfed, and I was so upset at the thought of switching to formula abruptly. One night, I woke up to pump milk and tearfully watched the milk flow into the bottle,” Katrina recalls.

Luckily, this period lasted only a few days. Through frequent pumping to stimulate milk production, her breast milk volume gradually increased. After feeding her daughter daily, she can store hundreds of millilitres of breast milk, which has filled up a 20-litre mini refrigerator and a freezer compartment in her home fridge. “But I still cherish every drip of breast milk. After pumping, I carefully collect every last drip in the milk bag. Each drip is so precious, I do not want to waste it!” says Katrina.

Katrina learnt about the establishment of HKBMB from nurses of the breastfeeding team at Tuen Mun Hospital. After accumulating a considerable amount of breast milk, she proactively registered with the milk bank to become the first batch of donors.

Yoyo: Life doesn’t come easy

“Every life deserves to be cherished. I wish the babies health and joy as they grow. Even if we may not meet, we will love them and protect their growth.”

Having experienced miscarriages and challenges in giving birth to her baby girl, Yoyo reflects that “life doesn’t come easy.” Her first two babies were tragically gone at the sixth week and fourth month of pregnancy. Similarly, carrying her third child was a struggle, during which she could not eat well for ten months, resulting in a 30-pound weight loss. She doubted her ability to continue the pregnancy. With the attentive care of medical staff, Yoyo was able to deliver a full-term baby girl, who is now eight months old.

Yoyo is grateful for the breastfeeding guidance she received from the nurses at Kwong Wah Hospital after her delivery. Having a surplus of milk that her daughter cannot finish, she determined to donate breast milk to help other babies in need. “Life is precious. Both of my babies never made it into this world. Preterm babies require such effort and struggle to be born. Although I cannot cure them medically, I can share food with them. So, I will definitely donate!” She actively shared the news of the establishment of HKBMB on social media and mum social groups, hoping to inspire more mothers to donate.

Before registering as a breast milk donor, she had been sharing her breast milk with her colleagues’ daughter, estimating that she had given away about 100 litres of breast milk. For Yoyo, sharing breast milk in the future carries multiple meanings. “I will persist in pumping milk. Each pump is not only for my daughter but also for many other kids who can benefit.”

Yan: Shares the feeling of mothers with preterm babies

“Hang in there! Breast milk is the best food for babies. Let them absorb nutrients completely. I hope my breast milk helps you.”

Yan deeply empathises with the heartache and helplessness of mothers of premature babies. In September last year, at 26 weeks of pregnancy, Yan experienced sudden contractions and delivered a pair of twin boys after enduring more than ten hours of labour pains. The brothers weighed only about one kilogram at birth and required care in the NICU. When she first visited her sons the day after giving birth, “seeing them lying in the incubator with tubes all over their tiny bodies, I felt heartbroken and tears flowed uncontrollably,” Yan recalls.

Despite the twins needing gastric tube feeding, Yan diligently expressed milk every day and delivered it to the hospital. After nearly three months, the twin brothers successfully gained weight to 2.77 and 2.59 kilograms, leading Yan to believe, “their weight gain can surely be attributed to the power of my breast milk. They are absorbing nutrients well!”

At present, Yan pumps over a thousand millilitres of breast milk a day, far exceeding the twins’ consumption. She has stored several litres of breast milk. Witnessing some NICU mums who exhausted all means to increase breast milk supply for their babies without success and blamed themselves, Yan had thought about donating her milk. However, she was hesitant to act. She understands that mothers of premature babies are concerned about hygiene and safety in private milk sharing. When Yan heard about the upcoming HKBMB, she promptly registered as a donor to share breast milk through a reliable channel.