A mum of two has used Instagram to spread a message about breastfeeding and milk donation.
Ashely Clifford, shared a photo of her 5-month-old daughter, Ellie lying on the floor, surrounded by bags of her mum’s breast milk. The bagged milk was to be donated to other families who are unable to breastfeed their baby.
Ms Clifford has pumped 295 ounces (just under 9 Litres) of breastmilk, to be donated to other mothers.
The mum shared how she had two different feeding experiences with her children. Her oldest son, David, was difficult to breastfeed and after a month, she started feeding him formula so he could put on weight. Ms Clifford recalled breastfeeding was a lot harder than she thought.
Despite her first attempt at breastfeeding with her first child, who is now two, Ms Clifford decided to arm herself with knowledge so she could breastfeed her second child.
“Since the day I found out we were expecting again, I spent time researching and talking to people who already were successful with breastfeeding,” Ms Clifford explained.
In the Instagram post, Ms Clifford wrote, “When I found out I was pregnant with this baby, my DREAM was to not only be able to breastfeed her, but to be able to donate milk as well.
This photo means so much to me. When I found out I was pregnant with this baby, my DREAM was to not only be able to breastfeed her, but to be able to donate milk as well. Let me be clear about one thing though, I believe FED is best. I tried to nurse David, but after a month of him barely gaining anything, I started supplementing an eventually went straight to formula with him. And he’s thriving! This picture represents many sleepless nights, especially from the first couple weeks, 295 ounces of extra milk, five blocked ducts, and a 17.5 lb healthy, growing baby girl. Today I’m donating about 200 ounces for the first time and the feeling I’m having is hard to explain. It’s a mix of excitement and love but at the same time, I’m having some reservations, only because nursing and pumping is HARD! I feel kind of protective of this haha BUT that isn’t going to stop me from giving some of this away? by @ashleymclifford
“This picture represents many sleepless nights, especially from the first couple weeks, 295 ounces of extra milk, five blocked ducts, and a 17.5 lb healthy, growing baby girl.”
“I think that helped make breastfeeding our daughter so much more successful. I said to myself from the beginning that if I were able to feed our daughter and have any kind of oversupply, that I wanted to donate it.”
Ms Clifford donated 200 ounces of breast milk for the first time this week and she had mixed feelings about the donation.
“The feeling I’m having is hard to explain. It’s a mix of excitement and love, but at the same time, I’m having some reservations, only because nursing and pumping is HARD!” she wrote. “I feel kind of protective of this haha BUT that isn’t going to stop me from giving some of this away.”
Ms Clifford hopes her Instagram photo will raise awareness about breast milk donation and to assure and encourage mums that are unable to breastfeed.
The mum told the Huffington Post, “I’d love to have breastfeeding normalized, but I also want to encourage mums that no matter how you feed your child, that fed is best,” she said. “My son is thriving and he was on formula for most of his infant life. It is an incredible feeling to be able to not only feed our daughter, but to help another family nourish theirs as well.”
