Katey became a milk donor with The Milk Bank in 2020 when she welcomed her first daughter. Fast forward five years, and she’s become a milk donor once again; this time after becoming a surrogate.
“My plan had always been to donate milk to The Milk Bank. It truly is a love language for me,” said Katey. “It was important to me to be able to give back in this way. It is definitely a labor of love. I want to give a huge shout out to all those exclusively pumping moms out there!”
As the postpartum nurse manager on the mother baby unit at a level four perinatal center, she knows first hand the health benefits pasteurized donor human milk provides to the tiniest patients in the NICU. “The hospital I work at receives milk from The Milk Bank for our NICU babies, our most vulnerable population there,” she said. “We serve very, very sick infants; the antibodies and the immunity level that donor milk can give these babies is huge.”
Katey would like other moms to know that, “every breastfeeding journey is so different. I feel like I’ve had a spectrum of different experiences with each of my pregnancies.”
While she was able to become a milk donor with her first daughter, she had a difficult run in with mastitis while she was nursing her second, which drastically dropped her milk supply. “Give yourself grace,” is her advice to any mother who is currently breastfeeding or planning to.
The two-time milk donor wishes people knew, “how easy it is to become a milk donor with The Milk Bank. I think I was approved within a week, and it was just so seamless and streamlined.”
As a nurse, Katey sees the benefits of pasteurized donor human milk firsthand through the experiences of her patients. “People should know the impact that you can make for our Central Indiana babies by becoming a milk donor,” she shared. “If I can provide even an ounce less of stress for these new parents, I’m so grateful that I’m able to do that.”
If you’re interested in joining Katey as a lifesaving milk donor, learn more here: https://www.themilkbank.org/donate-milk/
No milk to give? Consider making a financial gift to The Milk Bank to support our lifesaving work: https://www.themilkbank.org/donate-money/
