November 17, 2025
Recipient spotlight: Sarah and Ricardo’s story
Recipient spotlight: Sarah and Ricardo’s story
Donor milk helps Natalia grow stronger in Mount Sinai Hospital’s NICU.
We recently heard from Brooke, who shared her experience as a Milk Bank donor and a moment that tied everything together for her.
“I gave birth to a healthy baby girl in September 2017. After the first three or four weeks, we were cleared to avoid waking her up throughout the night — and wow, was she an incredible overnight sleeper! We couldn’t tell our friends! I was making a lot of milk, so I completed a screening form on the Milk Bank website and was later approved as a donor. I wanted to make sure that my supply didn’t decrease, so I woke up to pump at 3 a.m. (almost) every morning. During those early mornings, I would text a friend who was far away on the other side of the world. Pumping also let me do something amazing with my body, and I hoped it would help another baby somewhere.
“In 2019, I had my twin babies, and one of them needed to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for about 24 hours. We called this a “factory reset” because it helped him control his blood sugar levels.
“My baby didn’t receive human milk during his stay in the NICU. Next to his bassinet, where he was getting the special medical care he needed, there was a small refrigerator labelled “Human Milk.” It was very moving to think that maybe, two years before, some of my milk had been in that fridge, helping a baby who had been in the same bassinet where my own baby was now.
“Now that my kids are all in school, I often think back to those late-night pumping sessions. I wanted to share my milk with a baby in the NICU whose parents really needed help. I was lucky enough to donate milk once, and I feel really proud of that. I’m so thankful for what my body could do and for the help I received from my doctors and the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank.”
Donor milk helps save the lives of hospitalized infants by reducing the risk of life-threatening medical complications. We are grateful to Brooke for her support and generous donation of human milk to the Milk Bank. Thank you, Brooke, for helping give these medically fragile infants a stronger start.
