Thanking Milk Bank donors this Mother’s Day

For some new families, their journey may include a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). For Krysten and Matthew Lawrence, whose twins were born prematurely, their stay was eased by support and access to donor milk from The Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank.

The Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank was established to provide processed and pasteurized donor breast milk to fragile babies in NICUs across Ontario and recently celebrated its sixth anniversary.

“From birth, our twin daughter was more vulnerable in comparison to our twin son due to her lower birth weight and for that reason we were immediately introduced with the possibility of donor breast milk. At that time, we were completely unaware that human donor breast milk was available,” shares Krysten. “Since I was naturally unable to initially provide my own breast milk in sufficient quantities because I had delivered twins prematurely, it became the best we could have ever hoped for.”

After discharge, Krysten was eventually able to breastfeed both her twins. As a way to give back to the program, she decided to donate her extra breast milk to the bank. “I pumped over five litres of my breast milk and donated it. I hope in my heart that my lifesaving milk will increase the likelihood of a baby or babies’ survival and help them thrive in the most fragile first moments of their lives.”

Krysten is one of Ontario’s many wonderful donors and this Mother’s Day, we thank all the women who have graciously donated or are currently donating their extra breast milk to babies in need.