Celebrating Hannah’s One-derful Birthday

04/19/2024

Each year, Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas dispenses approximately 25 percent of donor milk to outpatients. These babies, with a wide range of diagnoses, receive donor milk at home by prescription. This is Hannah’s story:

Today, April 19, 2024, is Hannah’s first birthday and a miraculous milestone. A year ago, Hannah was born with a terminal brain condition called hydranencephaly. She left the hospital on hospice and was placed with her adoptive family three weeks later. 

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, hydranencephaly is a rare condition in which the brain’s cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Subsequently, aside from her brain stem and cerebellum, Hannah is missing most of her brain. 

At nearly 3-months old, Hannah had shunt placed to reduce fluid on her brain. A couple of weeks prior to the surgery, Hannah began experiencing feeding and gastrointestinal issues including difficulty latching onto a bottle and episodes of choking, vomiting and reflux. 

By August, Hannah was receiving donor milk at home. Hannah’s mother, Cassie, explains, “I asked my pediatrician how I would go about getting milk from a milk bank for my daughter. She suggested contacting Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas.”

In October, Hannah had a g-tube placed to ensure proper nutrition and to decrease the possibility of aspiration. She is at risk for seizures, respiratory issues and severe outcomes of infections. She also has visual cortical impairment and is not expected to progress beyond an infantile state.

Despite the medical complexities, Cassie says, “Hannah is growing and thriving. She has been dismissed from hospice because she has remained stable. She has made progress developmentally and has done things I didn’t know I would ever see. For example, she smiles, coos and is beginning to reach for objects, and she recognizes and reacts to familiar people.”

Cassie adds, “I truly believe that the superb immunity and nutritional benefits of breastmilk have contributed to this. What a gift this milk has been! It is a helpless feeling to not be able to produce milk for your baby especially when you know how much she would benefit from it. The milk has been a tremendous blessing to my daughter and has provided a lot of peace of mind.”