3 moms come up with an innovative solution to breastfeeding
Three moms across two states have dubbed themselves the “milk mommas” because of the unbreakable bond they formed after helping each other with breastfeeding.
The bond began when Susie Schmitt, of Pittsburgh, was not able to produce enough milk to feed her daughter, Allison.
“No matter how many supplements I took, no matter how many doctors I had gone to, no matter how much research I had done, my body was just not really producing the milk that she needed,” Schmitt told “Good Morning America.”
Schmitt ran into a friend from elementary school, Kelly Brennan, also of Pittsburgh, while shopping for formula at a local store. Schmitt shared her breastfeeding ordeal with Brennan, who was also a new mom.
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Brennan, a mother of two, was nursing her daughter Caroline at the time and told Schmitt she had a surplus of milk.
“Here I am with so much milk, I just thought, ‘This is a no brainer,’” Brennan recalled. “If you want it and you and your husband are comfortable with this decision, it would make me so happy to give it to you.”
Brennan donated her surplus milk to Schmitt until she too struggled to produce milk and was in need of more.
Brennan posted on Facebook about her and Schmitt's need for breast milk and received a message from another mom, Brittany Wigman.
“I basically just offered to her the opportunity to donate the excess milk that I had been storing,” said Wigman, a mother of two who knew Brennan from college but did not know Schmitt.
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Wigman, of Ohio, lives around two hours away from Schmitt and Brennan.
She packed her frozen milk supply in two huge coolers to donate it to the two friends. Brennan drove from her home in Pittsburgh to pick it up.
“When Brittany offered the milk, I cried at first because I just was so overwhelmed with gratitude,” Brennan said. “It was kind of a big sigh of relief for me because it was just a goal of mine for my child to have as much breast milk as possible, and because of Brittany, that happened.”
Added Schmitt, “I've never met Brittany but I owe her so much.”
Dr. Jessica Shepherd, a Chicago-based OB/GYN and women's health expert, said trading breastmilk among mothers is safe, as long as precautions are taken.
“We want to make sure that women consult their doctor before they partake in any type of organization or breast milk bank and absolutely making sure that it is stored properly,” she said. “You want to make sure that if you have it in the refrigerator that you don’t have it for more than 72 hours or if you have it in a deep freezer, that can go as long as one year.”
Shepherd added there should be “no shame” in using formula if a mother is not able to breastfeed. Donating breast milk just gives women another option, she explained.
“There should be no shame in using formula but using breast milk really allows that advantage of having all the benefits of breast milk,” Shepherd said. “Even if you’re not able to produce that for your child, there are ways that you can give your child that breast milk.”
