Today, we welcome guest blogger, Shannon O'Quin Wingo, who has served on the Board of Directors for Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas for 6 years. Shannon is a registered dietitian and board certified lactation consultant who has worked for the Texas Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC) program for 25 years. She is currently employed by Tarrant County Public Health as the WIC program Breastfeeding Coordinator. She is the founder and past president of the Tarrant County Breastfeeding Coalition and current chair of the Executive Committee of the Texas Breastfeeding Coalition. Shannon and rest of the milk bank family are thrilled to participate in North Texas Giving Day on September 17, a one-day online giving event. Donations of $25 and more will earn bonus funds and money raised will support the milk bank's charitable care program. To raise awareness about the extraordinary impact of milk banking in North Texas, Shannon shares a story she wrote for Texas WIC News in the July/August 2013 edition:
Not an Ordinary Mother
Kara Nguyen is not an ordinary mother. Kara experienced something many mothers could never imagine. In 2007, her daughter, Kalista, just 9 months old, lost her battle to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes an infection of the lungs and breathing passages. RSV is a major cause of respiratory illness in young children.
Kara was breastfeeding Kalista and continued to express her milk even after Kalista passed. Kara learned about donor human milk and donated her expressed breastmilk to Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas. “I dropped off the milk at the Breastfeeding Support Center at HEB Methodist Hospital. I had to make two trips because it would not all fit in my car,” says Kara.
Kara, a native of China who has lived in Texas since 1980, is a full-time mother and works a part-time job. Still grieving six weeks after Kalista’s death, Kara experienced mixed emotions when she gave birth to another daughter, Keirstyn. In the years that followed, Kara was blessed with two more beautiful girls, Kalleigh (now 3 years old) and Kyndall (9 months old). Her oldest daughter, Thia, is 12 years old. In March 2013, Kara told her WIC clinic staff that she had received an invitation from Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas to participate in the unveiling of a unique memorial to the smallest lives that helped the nonprofit organization.
Known as Carmen’s Tree, the memorial is named for the baby of the milk bank’s first milk donor, Angela Mendoza, who chose to donate her breastmilk to Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas after the death of her infant girl, Carmen, in July 2004. Carmen’s Tree is located on the entrance wall inside Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas at 600 West Magnolia Avenue in Fort Worth. Each leaf on the tree is dedicated to a donor’s baby, including the baby’s first name and birth date. As I spoke to Kara about her experience, she wept. And so did I. She told me, “The WIC staff here in Euless, Texas, is my family. They have been with me through all of my baby girls’ lives.” Kara still grieves over the loss of her Kalista. However she says she hopes by telling her story, it will reach other mothers who have experienced the same tragedy. The Tarrant County Public Health WIC program and Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas would like to thank Kara Nguyen for her selfless donation of love to other little ones who may not have survived without the use of donated breastmilk. We are sincerely sorry for your tragic loss of Kalista and hope you will have peace in your heart. ***Update: Since this story was published, Kara gave birth to twins, Kamden and Kaleb in September of 2014. On May 9, 2015, Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas held another dedication ceremony commemorating tiny, precious lives lost and the gift of donor milk. To date, Carmen's Tree displays over 250 leaves, each engraved with a baby's name and birthdate. Texas WIC News is published every other month by the Department of State Health Services. Subscriptions are free. Issues can be viewed in pdf format on this Web page.