Héma-Québec is seeking 160 new mothers willing to offer their surplus milk to very premature babies this month, for whom it is an essential medicine against a potentially fatal disease.
“It’s the most impressive system of maternal solidarity there is. It is a mother who cannot breastfeed her little baby and sees another mother do it in her place,” explains Josée Larivée, spokeswoman for Héma-Québec.
Each year, the Héma-Québec Public Breast Milk Bank enables more than 1,000 babies born before 32 weeks gestation to be fed with human milk.
This milk is essential for these very premature babies because it reduces by 3.3 times the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious disease that can be fatal to them.
However, about a third of mothers who give birth before childbirth find it difficult to feed their baby as milk production increases during pregnancy.
To pay in advance
This was especially true for Stéphanie Bergeron, who gave birth to twins in 2019 after just 27 weeks of pregnancy.
She had to use the breast milk bank for the first four days of Elliott and Paul-Émile’s life, who were hospitalized in Montreal.
“Then I had milk flow pretty quickly. I had it healthy because I knew I was giving my boys the best,” says Ms Bergeron, who had to stay at the bedside of her children at Sainte-Justine Hospital for 100 days.
Once she started producing milk, she didn’t stop.
So much so that she, in turn, was able to donate her surplus to other very premature babies in need.
“I became obsessed with my breast pump because I wanted to give something back,” says the high school math teacher.
Then, after the birth of Béatrice nine months ago, Stéphanie Bergeron did not hesitate to reproduce the experience.
It currently offers Héma-Québec about a liter of milk per week.
“I have a year to make a small difference in the lives of mothers of babies who really need it,” explains the 34-year-old.
In fact, Héma-Québec stops collecting milk produced more than a year after birth because it contains less effective nutrients for very preterm babies.
Unknown but essential
Although little known to the general public, the breast milk donation scheme set up by Héma-Québec gives thousands of mothers the opportunity to donate their excess milk each year.
Month after month, the non-profit organization, which also deals with blood donations, is looking for a hundred new mothers to replenish their bank.
The prerequisite for this is, in particular, that they live near a large center and are in good health.
Stéphanie Bergeron notes that several relatives decided to offer some of her milk after hearing her story.
“My boys were force-fed 2 milliliters every 3 hours. Someone who gives 15 milliliters has just had 30 meals. It’s still remarkable,” she says.
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