A mother who posted a plea on Facebook for breast milk was overwhelmed when six women donated 200 BAGS of their own milk.
Marcy Morgan was devastated when she was prescribed medication for an eye condition which prevented her from breastfeeding her baby daughter Savannah, now five months.
The mother-of-three immediately posted a plea on Facebook asking if anyone could donate any surplus breast milk.
Marcy, of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, USA, wrote: “I am looking for any of you who might have an oversupply of frozen breast milk or know of someone trustworthy who has extra milk.
“I know I can go for donor milk but I would feel so much more comfortable if I knew the mom who produced it.”
She added: “Her getting breast milk is so important to me.
“It’s all I know.
“I’m so heartbroken that I have to stop nursing her.
“Between all three of my kids I can say I’ve breastfed for 35 months and it’s something I’m so proud of.”
Marcy, married to Matthew, 32, a grounds maintenance manager, was astonished when five friends who were nursing reached out and offered their milk for little Savannah.
Jill Eggert, 28, DeAnne Green, 27, Lavonne Burgess, 25, Megan Samland, 26, and Jordan Stockwell, 30, were quick to offer ounces of their own milk.
Later Brittney McCarthy, 27, who met Marcy when they were on the same cheerleading squad in school, also pitched in and donated a whopping 500 ounces.
Marcy knew Brittany, a hair stylist, Megan, a nurse, Jill, a dance studio owner, and DeAnne, a jeweller, from high school.
She knew Lavonne, a makeup distributor, through mutual friends and Jordan was a nurse at Marcy’s children’s pediatric clinic.
The mother of Savannah, Gracelynn, six, and Kennedy, three, said: “I was overwhelmed that these women I had gone to school with came through for me.
“Some of them I hadn’t talked to for a while, it was amazing.
“Jill delivered the first batch, she bought bags upon bags to my car.
“I was floored by how much milk these moms gave me.”
Marcy estimated that she received a staggering 1500 ounces in donated milk.
The full time mother gave birth to Savannah on March 29 and was determined to breastfeed the tot.
She said: “I breastfed my eldest for 17 months and my second daughter for 14 months.
“I planned to do the same with Savannah.
“I am very passionate about breastfeeding.
“I just know that breast milk is the best thing I can give my baby because my body made it.
“It also creates a bond you can’t really describe.”
But in July Marcy began to experience blurred vision.
“I thought it was just hormones after the pregnancy and the delivery,” she said.
“But it got worse.
“It felt like I was looking out of a glass bubble.
“When I was driving, straight lines appeared curved.”
She visited an ophthalmologist who informed her that a blood vessel was growing near the macular of her left eye.
The macular is part of the retina at the back of the eye.
Marcy would need an injection into her eye to prevent the growth of the blood vessel but doctors told her that she should stop breastfeeding in case the medication affected her milk.
“I broke down, I was devastated,” Marcy said.
“I remember sitting in my living room and writing out a Facebook status.
“I reached out to my friends and said that if they had any extra breast milk, I would gladly take it off their hands.
“I knew that formula was an option but breast milk is best for the first six months of life.
“My other two children had breast milk for at least six months and I wanted to give Savannah the same thing.”
Jill, mother of Ellie, three, and Emmy, 15 months, DeAnne, mom of Henrik, nine months, Brittney, mother of Stephen, 14 months, Megan, mom of Tayah, six months, offered their breast milk and soon Lavonne, mom of Kyle, three, and Decklynn, eight months, and Jordan, mother of Caden, four months, were also offering to donate milk to Marcy.
DeAnne confessed that her heart “ached” when she read Marcy’s Facebook plea.
She said: “In today’s society, mothers are under so much pressure to be the ‘perfect mom’.
“I am so proud of Marcy that she reached out and asked for help and was so vulnerable.
“My heart absolutely ached for her.”
DeAnne admitted she did hesitate about donating her milk but soon thought of little Savannah.
She said: “I thought: ‘what if I get sick or I lose my supply?’
“I would need that frozen ‘liquid gold’.
“But if I was in Marcy’s situation, I would want nothing more than to know that my baby was getting safe milk from a loving mother who I actually know.”
DeAnne added that she takes pride in knowing her milk fed little Savannah.
“Every little chubby roll or dimple I see on that sweet girl, I smile knowing that I helped put it there,” she said.
Brittney also hesitated about giving up her breast milk but felt compelled to donate when she read Marcy’s emotional Facebook post.
She said: “I saw Marcy’s post and decided it was time to donate.
“I gathered it all up and realized I had over 500 ounces.
“I can’t even count the amount of time pumping that took to accumulate.
“Because it is a lot of work and because it’s something so priceless, I had a hard time letting it go.
“It wasn’t easy for me. It was emotional.
“When she came to pick it up, Savannah was sleeping peacefully in the back of her car and I was loading it into coolers.
“Seeing a baby that you get to help is indescribable.”
ENDS