A Williams Lake woman who donated breast milk to another new mom said when her baby wouldn’t latch on to nurse she resorted to pumping breast milk and ended up with a huge surplus in her freezer.
Lia Halstrom said when she posted on the Williams Lake Moms Facebook page that she had breast milk and wondered if she should donate it to the hospital or was there someone who could use it, someone tagged her.
Eventually she was connected to a woman in the region who was having her second baby and had a low milk supply for her first.
“She had reached out and asked if there was anyone that had extra freezer milk and I had tons,” Halstrom said. “The first time I met up with her I gave her newborn milk and in November I gave her another 70 ounces.”
Halstrom’s son, Blake, was born on Aug. 25, 2019, and she said because he was born tongue-tied he never did latch on for breast feeding.
“We fought with each other about it, but I still wanted to give him my breast milk, so I started to pump. He doesn’t eat nearly enough of what comes out of me so I was always storing it in the freezer.”
The nice thing about feeding him her milk in a bottle is she knows how much he’s getting, she added.
She plans to stop expressing milk in January so after that she won’t have milk to give away.
While the mom who received the milk wanted to remain anonymous, Halstrom said she has been very grateful for the milk.
Offering words of wisdom, she encouraged women to reach out if they need help.
“That moms group is so supportive. I’ve been helped and been able to reach out because of it.”
Halstrom was born in Sechelt, grew up in Quesnel and moved to Williams Lake in 2012.
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