Parenting

Mom Donates 16 Gallons Of Breastmilk To Honor Her Stillborn Son

by Maria Guido
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Grieving mom donates 16 gallons of breastmilk

Wendy Cruz-Chan was 19 weeks pregnant with her son, Killian, when he was stillborn due to a rare uterus infection. Her body continued to produce milk. She decided she would pump and donate to babies in need.

She’s a doula and was able to find several babies who needed milk. “I wanted to turn something tragic into something good,” she told Inside Edition. “Even though I cannot personally breastfeed my own son, I wanted to do something in his name,” she explained. “That’s all I can do for him.”

She admits that people are shocked to see her pump when they realize her baby is no longer alive. But not only is she donating milk — a truly selfless act — she’s also helping de-stigmatize the experience of losing a child during pregnancy. “I am working on a project of bringing awareness to stillbirths and miscarriages on my new Instagram page @mothersofstillbirths,” she writes. She hopes to provide a place where women can share their images and stories.

Over the course of three months Cruz-Chan donated about 16 gallons. “I realized through donating that it gave me a purpose to do something good to help me with the healing process,” Cruz-Chan said. “It just makes me feel good seeing all the babies I’ve been helping.”

She documented her whole journey on social media to help normalize donating breastmilk to babies in need. Imagine all the love wrapped up in those ounces of milk. And all of that will now go to help other children who need it.

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