Keilah's Breastfeeding Journey

Tuesday, 2/21/2017

Keilah first became familiar with donor milk after giving birth to her son, Jace. After being born at 36 weeks, he briefly received milk from Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas. Once she established a supply, Keilah calculated how much milk Jace took in a week versus how much she was producing.

“I quickly realized that storing up months and months of milk would take so much freezer space,” she said. “There is no way we could keep it all.”

That’s when Keilah decided to become a milk donor herself.

In the two months since she became a donor, Keilah has donated more than 1,700 ounces. She is able to drop off her milk directly to MMBNT during her lunch break at work, but if she needs to clear some space in her freezer on the weekend, she heads to her nearest depot.

“We’ve loved being able to share our milk,” Keilah said. “What a blessing it is to have something like this in Fort Worth!”

While Keilah helps others with her milk donations, she also has helpful insight when it comes to breastfeeding, pumping and finding a rhythm that works for both mom and baby. First and foremost, she emphasizes the importance of being flexible and patient.

She and Jace worked through latch issues for about 12 weeks, which involved lots of practice, trying a nipple shield and feeding him bottles of breastmilk as needed. Bottled breastmilk ended up having its own benefits – it eased the transition when Keilah started working again and Jace had to take a bottle, and it also allowed for special bonding time between Jace and his dad, as well as other family members who could feed him.

Additionally, Keilah recommends taking advice from many sources to determine the best method for you. Lactation consultants, doctors, and friends and family with breastfeeding experience all have valuable information that can help a mom along her breastfeeding journey.

“There is more than one approach to feeding your baby, and every mom, baby and family are different,” Keilah said.

For more information about Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas, click here.