Photo Fraser Health
When Jenny Kan gave birth to her daughter her baby couldn't latch on so Kan decided to pump and bottle feed her newborn instead.
Kan was able to feed her baby for a year by "pumping multiple times day and night, despite being sleep-deprived and suffering from breast pain on numerous occasions."
She built up a supply and decided to donate the extra milk "to offer a few precious little souls that extra push to overcome the unexpected twists and turns that can happen during or after birth.”
She completed the required paperwork and blood test to make her first donation to the BC Women's Hospital. Staff said her milk would be distributed to babies in need all across the province. “I felt like, I’m just an ordinary mother, but I can make a difference."
Kan's second donation to the North Delta Public Health Unit was the largest single donation of breast milk they had ever received. On February 25, 2018 Kan dropped off 34,392 millilitres or almost nine 4-litre milk jugs worth of breast milk.
“Jenny’s donation will help a lot of babies,” says North Delta Public Health Nurse Sue Ellis. “The part that strikes me is how Jenny describes herself as an ordinary mother – she is far from ordinary!”
Ellis says donors are always need to help "vulnerable babies when mom's milk is not available."
Kan hopes her daughter will grow up knowing that anyone can make a difference not matter how ordinary they may feel. "All it takes is determination and perseverance."
