New mom donates breast milk to help babies in need

With no end in sight to the baby formula shortage, lifestyle content creator and new mom Lucie Fink is stepping up to help babies in need. She's donating excess breast milk, and she credits her TikTok and Instagram followers with inspiring her to help.

She said she had never thought about donating milk. I never knew anyone who had donated milk before. Fink isn't shy about sharing intimate moments with her online audience. Milo was born in November, and that includes her son, Milo. She shared everything from the delivery process to her postpartum life. Fink admits that pumping breast milk was a big mystery to her when it came to feeding Milo.

She said that people don't tend to share a lot of the information about pumping behind the scenes.

Fink shared her journey by recording a series of Pump with Me videos.

I had never seen that before. My audience found it fascinating. Fink said the excess milk began to pile up in her freezer.

She said that my body was producing more milk than my son currently drank in a day.

Fink s followers encouraged her to not waste milk and instead donate it. She didn't realize she could donate breast milk at the time. She started the process by Googling, How to donate breast milk. She went through a phone screening, online application and blood test after finding the New York Milk Bank. Fink needed to give permission for the milk bank to access Milo's medical records.

She says that with the current situation, it needs more than ever, and Fink started donating her excess milk before the formula shortage.

She said that it is important to recognize that milk sitting in your freezer is better served going to a child that is in need right now, especially those really young babies in the NICU that are compromised because of their size and age.

Fink hopes that sharing this part of her journey inspires others to do the same, because of the overwhelmingly positive and powerful response to her donations.

The process was simple and easy to follow, because it does sound intimidating. She has a message for mothers struggling to feed their young children right now.

If you are affected by the formula shortage, there are people and ways to connect to these people who have an answer to your problem.