Kristen Storto
Jacksonville, FL
The birth of my daughter, Julianne, was a normal, uncomplicated birth. Thanks to a very helpful nurse at the hospital, we were able to get help with a troublesome latch. I received an email as part of the hospital’s well mom and baby email program that talked about donating excess breastmilk to a milk bank. After doing a little bit of research, I realized that the milk bank was run by a for profit company. I wasn’t comfortable with my milk being used in that way, so I decided to hold off on donating. I quickly discovered that I had an abundant milk supply – we had to go out and buy a chest freezer to store extra milk in the garage!
When Julianne was 2 months old, she caught RSV and was hospitalized for a few days. The doctors and nurses at the children’s hospital were fantastic, my family was so thankful for their dedication and kindness. While at the children’s hospital, my family learned that the premature and medically fragile infants in the NICU were being supplied pasteurized human breastmilk through Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas. Because the children’s hospital had been so wonderful during Julianne’s RSV stay, I wanted to donate my milk to MMBNT because I didn’t want my milk to go to waste. It was also a way to give back to the hospital that helped us so much.
I am active duty with the United States Navy, but currently stationed at a shore based command because I am a new mother. The Navy has recently revised its pregnancy policy and I am able to spend at least 12 months with Julianne on shore duty. The policy also allows me to pump as needed in a private room. My facility has several places for me to pump – they have really made it easy for me to continue breastfeeding Julianne and donating milk to Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas.
Kristen’s breastfeeding advice:
Establishing a good latch and other techniques is very important in the beginning! I’m thankful that our issues were corrected quickly. Side lying nursing made all of the difference when I started back at work!