A mother who gave birth to her son three months prematurely has donated a record-breaking amount of breast milk to help other babies in need.
Despite initially struggling to pump milk for son Cash after he was born in January, Mikah Duncan, 28, from Texas, went on to give a whopping 15 gallons (58.8 litres) to the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.
Doctors encouraged Mikah to produce breast milk to help Cash thrive after he was born at 25 weeks gestation weighing just 2lbs.
“When Cash was first born, I couldn’t even hold him. Pumping milk was all I could do to help. I’m glad more babies will benefit from my efforts,” his mom Mikah said.
At first the new mother only produced a syringe worth of milk but kept at it every two hours around the clock and slowly started to pump more.
Eventually the hospital had enough and instructed Mikah to start storing the milk at home.
One mother posted on Facebook:
Thank you Mikah Duncan for your incredible donation! I’m so thankful for you and all women who donate milk! My son was preemie as well, and he received donor milk until I recovered and was able to pump on my own. Thank you for being such a blessing to my family and many others!
Cash was discharged April 19 and the excess milk was then donated by the hospital to the Mother’s Milk Bank in Austin to benefit premature infants in the region.
