Sierra Strangfeld, a new mum, recently made a brave decision that will leave you in tears and in awe of this strong mother.
She shook the whole world when she shared her inspiring story of how after losing her son, she kept pumping breast milk for 63 continuous days. Over 500 ounces (14 litres) of breast milk was donated towards saving the lives of many babies.
What Happened To Her Son?
As per sources, when this new mom found out that her unborn child had trisomy 18, a rare genetic condition that causes life-threatening conditions, Sierra was more determined than ever to meet her son.
So, when doctors suggested termination of pregnancy, she declined. She met her newborn, but unfortunately, he died just three hours after he was born.
While sharing the heart-wrenching incident, Sierra said:
“Samuel only left my arms once, when he had an oxygen tube put in, otherwise he spent those three hours with us. I was able to do skin-to-skin with him and his heart rate and oxygen levels immediately raised. It was like he knew he was with his mum. We got a few squeaks out of him, and spent those three hours looking at every detail of his tiny body. Those hours felt like minutes.”
That was the moment that made Sierra decide to donate her breast milk to people who were in help. She said,
“I couldn’t control his life or his death, but I could control what I did afterward.”
By donating her breast milk, she hoped that she could save the life of some other baby.
What would make you applaud her courage is that she adopted such a special way to overcome her grief. She pumped her breast milk for 63 days, from the day her son was born.
And finally, she ended up donating 500 ounces of breast milk to the Mother’s Milk Bank in the Western Great Lakes.
While sharing her experience in a Facebook post she wrote,
“Pumping is not for the faint of heart. It’s hard. Mentally and physically. And it’s even harder when you don’t actually have a baby.”
As she herself sought expressed milk for her first-born, she felt milk donation would definitely help newborns and their families.
At IFORHER, we applaud this mom for being so brave to find an inspiring way to help someone in need. We hope God will give Sierra and her family more strength to bear their loss.