Meet Juli, whose daughter Ruby was born prematurely and had to spend time in the NICU. She always had the intention to breastfeed, but with Ruby in the NICU and handling her own recovery from a C-section, her feeding journey didn’t quite go according to plan.
“There was a disconnect between what I was able to produce and what she needed,” says Juli. When Ruby’s care team offered donor milk from The Milk Bank as a supplementation option for Ruby, Juli immediately chose the donor milk and felt a sense of relief.
“Having access to the donor milk took the stress off in that moment. Then I could care for myself, figure out my supply, and continue on the breastfeeding journey despite the tricky start.”
Fast forward eight months, and Juli is now a lifesaving milk donor herself! “The world that we live in today feels very tumultuous and chaotic, especially postpartum,” she says. “Having the avenue to donate milk feels like something I can do to help put more good into the world.”
Juli loves using The Milk Bank’s Milk Depots, which are convenient, community-based locations approved donors of The Milk Bank can use to drop-off their donations of frozen breast milk. Her go-to Milk Depots are located at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and Mercy Hospital St. Louis.
If you’re interested in joining Juli as a lifesaving milk donor, start the journey by submitting our milk donor interest form here: https://www.themilkbank.org/donate-milk/
No milk to give? Consider making a financial gift to The Milk Bank: https://www.themilkbank.org/donate-money
We thank Juli for sharing her story and joining us as a milk donor to ensure other babies just like Ruby can get lifesaving nutrition when it is needed most.
