New mom donates breast milk to help babies in need

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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. That includes when her son, Milo, was born in November. She shared everything from the delivery process to her postpartum life. Fink admits that breast milk was a mystery to her when it came to feeding Milo.

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

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

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

My body was producing more milk than my son drank in a day, she said.

Fink s followers encouraged her not to 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. After finding the New York Milk Bank, she went through a phone screening, online application and blood test. Fink had to give permission for the milk bank to access Milo's medical records.

Fink started donating her excess milk before the formula shortage, but she says it needs more than ever.

She said that it is important to know that milk sitting in your freezer is better served by 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 the response to her donations has been overwhelmingly positive and powerful.

The process was simple and easy to use because it does sound intimidating. She also 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 them who have an answer to your problem.