A Missouri mother who was unable to breastfeed her son is now donating over 1,000 ounces of her breast milk to help Harvey victims.
Danielle Palmer’s third son, Truett, was born with a congenial heart defect and was unable to breastfeed, instead getting his nutrients from an IV.
“The first month of [Truett’s] life, he was unable to eat,” Palmer, 31, told Today. “All the milk I was pumping was going into the freezer.”
Truett ended up having eight surgeries, and Palmer continued to pump and save her breast milk, even donating some of it to another local mother.
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In all, she had about 346 feedings’ worth, in her estimation, and her son’s speech therapist, Nicole Edwin, suggested that she could donate what she had to help mothers affected by Hurricane Harvey.
“We’re very blessed and very grateful that we have an opportunity to share, and to use this to bring beauty to what we’ve had to go through,” she told St. Louis’ 9News.
Edwin drove all of the formula down to Texas to donate it, and Palmer said that she was “overjoyed” to be able to help.
“I know there’s mothers who want to be able to feed their babies breast milk who can’t, and it’s better than it getting tossed out,” Palmer said. “If I could help alleviate some stress from some moms, than my job has been done.”