Parent testimonial: Angela comes full circle as a donor

"Angela was looking forward to the birth of her daughter…but not three months early."

Angela was looking forward to the birth of her daughter…but not three months early. Her daughter River was born prematurely, at 27 weeks and three days, weighing only one pound and 12 ounces. Luckily, the NICU physicians, nurses, and dietitians knew of the importance of a 100% human milk-based diet for critically ill, premature infants. They prescribed human milk-based fortifier be added to her breast milk, in order to provide the additional calories and nutrition that was essential for River not only to survive, but to thrive. River did in fact continue to grow, but at four months, her NICU team switched her from the human milk-based fortifier to a cow milk-based fortifier. River then quickly began having digestive problems, so after one week, and after prodding by Angela, River was switched back to the human milk-based fortifiers made by Prolacta Bioscience. Once she was back on a 100% human milk-based diet, her condition improved once again. As of October 2016, River is eight months old, weighing a nearly 14 pounds.

"So Angela wanted to do something with her extra breast milk--something that could possibly help other babies and families."

During the time that River was in the NICU, Angela had been fortunate to have been producing not only enough breast milk for her daughter, but also excess breast milk - more than what she could ever use. So Angela wanted to do something with her extra breast milk - something that could possibly help other babies and families. After researching the options, Angela decided that Tiny Treasures was the best fit for her, because of the support she received from the Facebook group. "Since I've started donating and following them I have been encouraged to keep pumping. I also like how very selective Tiny Treasures is in accepting new donors. It helps me take better care of myself, be more cautious of what I eat so I can make top quality milk for my baby and those sweet, little preemies." Milk donated to Tiny Treasures is used to make human milk-based nutritional products for extremely premature babies - those babies who are so tiny and fragile they fit in the palm of your hand. Angela’s experience had come full circle: River benefited from a fortifier made from human milk - milk that had been donated by another mom with extra milk. Now Angela is able to donate her milk, so that other premature infants can benefit from a human milk-based diet.