Grieving mum donates breast milk

Finding out you’re expecting a precious baby is one of the most exciting moments a woman will experience in her life.

And the feeling of carrying that baby is something near impossible to describe.

For most women, the joyful experience of pregnancy results in the birth of a beautiful baby.

Sadly, many women never have a chance to meet their precious baby. 

Amy Anderson was one such women, losing her son Bryson to stillbirth at 20 weeks.

However despite doctors recommending she bind her breasts, Amy decided to go against their advice and began pumping her milk.

The devastated mother chose to donate her excess breast milk after learning about human milk’s benefits.

She also found pumping to be very comforting as she began to cope with the death of her son.

Unfortunately, Amy’s former employer didn’t agree with her choice and when she asked if she could take regular breaks to pump, they responded by saying, “Your baby is dead.”

They also advised Amy that breastfeeding laws didn’t include bereaved or surrogate mothers.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not you now have a baby to hold. I was a lactating woman with physical needs,” Amy told Today.com.

In addition to fighting to change the terminology of the law to formally include all lactating women, Amy continued to pump for eight months and has donated 92 gallons of breast milk — worth more than 30,000 feedings — to five milk banks in four different states as well as Canada.

“That was my time to unwind and be with my angel,” she said. “It helped me work through my grief.”

The couple, who are parents to two other children, say they felt a strong connection to their son after hearing his heartbeat and wanted his life to have meaning and to make an impact on the world through the breast milk donations.

“This was Bryson’s life purpose and I’m going to embrace that,” Amy said.

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