Everyone knows somebody who has suffered a miscarriage; it’s sadly all-too-common. For this to be the outcome – after the joy of learning you’re expecting and growing a baby – is your worst nightmare. But one woman in the US decided to turn her pain into something positive when she miscarried her baby boy at 20 weeks.
Amy Anderson, from Maine, donated over 350 litres of her breastmilk after this heartbreaking trauma. The milk has since been used to feed high-risk and premature babies.
Despite advice from her doctors not to, she pumped her breastmilk for eight months after losing Bryson in 2010.
Amy told The Philly Voice that it helped her to relieve the discomfort of swollen breasts and come to terms with her loss.
She explained: “No one prepared me for what would happen to my breasts after Bryson was born. In fact, I was told that it was way too early for breast milk to be produced by my body. But this was a horrible misconception.
“Within a couple days after delivering Bryson, my milk came in. My rock-hard chest was throbbing, and milk saturated everything. No one suggested the option of donating Bryson’s milk.”
The Andersons (image via YouTube/Milk For Thought).
She continued: “As I expressed the milk, a real sense of calm descended. I felt a powerful closeness to my Bryson, which reminded me how much I loved the breastfeeding relationship I had shared with my eldest son.
“Pumping milk in Bryson’s memory felt so very right. All life has meaning, and my son’s life was no different. I decided to embrace his life’s purpose… I was able to express my love for him through expressing and donating his milk.”
According to reports Amy is also trying to challenge the law in the US that mothers who miscarry aren’t allowed a break from employment to express their milk.
