CNN
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Faced with the paucity of baby formula, lifestyle content creator and new mom Lucy Fink is stepping up to help babies in need. She’s Donating Her Extra Breast Milk, and She Gives Her Credit TIC Toc And Instagram followers flocked to help her.
“I never thought of donating milk,” she said. “I’ve never known anyone before who donated milk.”
Fink doesn’t shy away from sharing intimate moments with her online audience. This includes when their son Milo was born last November. She shared everything from the delivery process to her postpartum life. But when it came to feeding Milo, Fink admitted that pumping breast milk was a big secret to her.
“People don’t share a lot behind the scenes about pumping,” she said.
So, Fink shared his journey by recording a series of “Pump With Me” videos.
“That was something I had never seen before. And my audience has found it fascinating.”
Fink said extra milk started accumulating in her freezer.
“All I knew was that my body was producing more milk than my son drank in a day,” she said.
Fink’s followers encouraged him not to waste milk and donate it instead. She said that at the time, she didn’t know she could donate breast milk. She started the process by Googling, “how to donate my breast milk.”
After finding New York Milk Bank, she went through a phone screening, online application, and blood tests. Fink was also required to allow Milk Bank access to her and Milo’s medical records.
While Fink started donating her extra milk before the shortage of formula, she says that with the current situation, it is needed more than ever.
“It’s important to recognize that milk sitting in your freezer is better than going to a baby who needs it right now, especially really young babies in the NICU who are compromised because of their size and age,” she said.
The response to her charity has been “overwhelmingly positive and powerful,” Fink said, and she hopes sharing this part of her journey inspires others to do the same.
“The process was actually very easy and simple, as hard as it sounds.”
She also has a message for moms struggling to feed their little ones right now.
“If you are struck by a lack of formula, there are people and ways to connect with these people who have … the answer to your problem. … There is help in your community.”