Mom donates breast milk to Hurricane Harvey victims

A mother is being praised on social media for her unique donation of 30 litres of breast milk to those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Like so many others, Danielle Palmer, from Owensville, Missouri, was devastated watching the floods in Houston and wanted to find a way to help families who had lost everything.

“I can’t imagine being in a situation where you’re losing everything” Palmer said. "All I could do was sit and pray for the moms and dads and kids.”

But the mother of three eventually found a way to show her support after she was approached by her son’s speech therapist, who is part of the organisation Guiding Star Missouri, to donate some of her extra breast milk.

Born with a congenital heart disease, Palmer’s youngest son, Truett, was unable to take his mother’s milk for a big chunk of his life with most of his nutrition coming through IV.

And as such, all the milk that Palmer pumped went straight to the freezer, leaving her with a surplus supply.

After being approached, she gladly filled a cooler with almost 30 litres of milk that will go to mums who lost their frozen supply due to power cuts, whose pumps got lost in the flood waters, or who just aren’t able to produce right now.

“With breast feeding, stress plays a big role in your supply. If you become stressed, your supply will drop,” Palmer said.

“We gave 1040 ounces (29.5kg) and we figured that, if a normal baby gets three ounces, that’s 346 feedings.”

While some have voiced concerns over the safety of sharing breast milk, Palmer has been quick to explain that milk donated to banks is rigorously tested while the Center for Disease Control insist that human breast milk is not a body fluid that requires special handling precautions.

The image of Palmer, Truett and their generous donation has since gone viral, gaining more than 13 000 likes and a flood of glowing comments on the Breastfeeding Mama Talk page.

“Well done!! What a tremendous gift!” one person wrote.

Another added: “I’m so proud of this girl for staying strong and donating to babies that need it most.”

Palmer hopes that each bottle will bring nutrition to babies and relief to mothers affected by the floods.

“We have each other’s backs. We take care of each other. Breastfeeding is hard. Whether you’re pumping or feeding or however it may be, it’s hard. 

"And we are like momma bears. We protect one another,” she concluded.