Here is a beautiful, heartwarming story that shows us all that even as we grieve, we can reach beyond our personal sorrow to make the world a better place.  According to The International Breastfeeding Symbol, Jennifer Coias gave birth to a still baby boy, Jude, on September 15, 2011. To honor his memory, she decided to pump her milk, and donate it to a milk bank in Brazil, where she lives.

Jennifer continues to pump about 7-8 times a day to keep her milk flowing, in order to help other babies. Cafe Mom reports that her donations compose half of all the milk that the hospital’s bank receives, and hers is the highest in calories and fat, which is important for the babies in the NICU who drink it. According to her reports on Facebook, before she started donating, the hospital had to ration out the milk for only the “sickest and smallest of the NICU babies.” Now, thanks to her, they have enough to feed every NICU baby with human milk.

photo via www.breastfeedingsymbol.org

I find this story very inspiring, especially for any women who have ever thought of donating breast milk. Mothers who have lost babies or simply have an overabundance of milk can really do a lot of good by donating it to babies who’s mothers can’t produce enough milk or who do not have access to breast milk for other reasons.

Visit Human Milk 4 Human Babies to learn more about donating or receiving breast milk.

If you want to help Jennifer continue her great act of kindness, you can send donations of milk bags or any other small, non-breakable containers to:

Jennifer & Miguel Coias
Unit 7500, Box 1381
DPO, AA 34030-1381

You can also find more ways to help by visiting her Facebook page:  Love & Light for Jennifer Coias & Family or by sending a donation via PayPal: donation page for Jennifer Coias.