Have you ever considered donating your breast milk? The story of a record-breaking mum-of-four who pumped enough milk to fill 4,000 bottles might inspire you…
Meet Amelia Boomker, a 36-year-old mother to four boys, who has just secured a place in the Guinness World Records for her incredible donation to breast milk banks.
The IT professional, who lives with her family in Bolingbrook, Illinois, donated more than 480 litres of breast milk between February 2008 and September 2013 to help nourish children in need – that’s the equivalent of 816 Venti Starbucks!
Amelia found she was overproducing milk when her first son, Danny, arrived in 2008, as he was born with a congenital heart condition and had to be fed through a tube for the first six months.
She decided to express instead and would pump up to ten times a day for around 20 minutes each time to ensure little Danny could still enjoy the benefits of her milk.
‘He didn't drink very much because he was a heart baby,’ Amelia told interviewers.
As there was so much of her milk left over, the nurses at Danny’s hospital asked if she would consider donating the excess to a milk bank – and so begun a five-year journey that would see her donations being sent across seven Midwestern states to help premature infants and babies being kept in neonatal care units.
'They started sending me litre bottles because I producing so much milk. I would send up to 14 at a time!'
A spokesperson for the Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank said only one per cent of the donors on their books are capable of pumping as much milk as Ms Boomker.
‘Our goal is for our moms to be pumping in a healthy manner. So it’s not as though we encourage moms to pump an excess amount of milk to go for something like the world record,’ the representative said.
‘It just so happens that Amelia – she has some pumping skills. It’s just insane.’
According to the United Kingdom Association for Milk Banking, donated breast milk can strengthen premature babies and decrease their chances of contracting serious infections, such as necrotising enterocolitis.
For more information on becoming a donor, speak to your health visitor or midwife.
Thinking about wearning? Read our step-by-step guide to introducing your little ones to solids
Have you ever donated to a milk bank? Or has your baby ever benefited from one? We want to hear all about your experiences in the comments below.