New Mom Saves 375 oz. Using a Milk-Saver

Sarah Van Wyhe and Family

Sarah Van Wyhe is a former elementary school teacher and a breastfeeding mama; however, breastfeeding wasn’t always so easy for this busy mom of two. After finding herself unable to breastfeed her first born after much angst, she was determined to make breastfeeding work for her second born, a boy name Logan.

A week after giving birth to Logan, a friend bought Sarah a Milkies Milk-Saver. Sarah wanted one, as she remembered when trying to breastfeed her first son that she had strong milk let-down in the non-nursing breast. She knew she would soak through nursing pads if she didn’t have something in place to collect the milk.

“I was losing a lot of breast milk during let-down, which was quite frustrating as I had so much trouble breastfeeding the first go round and hated to see any milk go to waste. I was determined to save every last drop,” she says.

With her Milkies Milk-Saver in hand and on breast, Sarah was off to collect and save her breast milk.

“The first week home I was super engorged and was manually expressing milk to save it. It was a lot of extra work. But what I love about Milkies is that as soon as I put it on and start feeding my son, it did all the work for me. All I had to do was focus on feeding my baby while collecting extra milk on the other breast,” she says. “I’m so happy someone invented a product that makes life easy for us productive milk makers!”

What Do You Do With All that Milk?

As a stay-at-home mom, Sarah knew she didn’t have a need for all the milk she was collecting.

“I’ve been collecting six to seven ounces a day with my Milkies Milk-Saver, most of which I don’t need. My pediatrician suggested I donate the excess milk to a milk bank,” says Sarah.

That is exactly what Sarah did. She contacted a milk bank that makes the collection, storing and shipping process so easy for her. Plus, she says the milk bank she chose gives $1 per ounce of qualified breast milk donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

“I feel really good about donating this milk to a family in need without doing a lot of extra work on my part. I’m not only able to help provide nutrition to a baby who desperately needs it, but also my donation brings monetary gain to an organization that is helping fight breast cancer. It’s personal to me because one of my friends in my mom’s group, who is only 32 years old, is going through breast cancer treatment now,” she says.

In eight weeks, Sarah says she has collected 375 ounces of breast milk - 250 ounces for donation and 150 ounces to save in her freezer. That’s 6.7 ounces per day, on average! Sarah says she did all this without pumping and by only using her Milkies Milk-Saver.

Becoming a Milk Donor: The Process

We asked Sarah to tell us about her donation experience. She says there are several stages she had to go through to qualify to be a donor.

First, she had to get a letter from her pediatrician saying that her baby is gaining weight and is healthy. She also needed a second letter from her doctor signing off that she, too, was healthy.

She was then sent a DNA swab that she was able to do in seconds and send back to the milk bank. They then sent a technician to her house to draw blood.

Once they knew Sarah had a clean bill of health, they sent her a big box with a cooler inside and two huge freezer gel packs. When she was ready to send her milk, she says she contacts FedEx to pick up the box. When she is ready for a new box, she contacts the milk bank seven days in advance and they send her a new box with FedEx postage paid. They also supply the milk storage bags.

“I’m blow away by how easy everything is, from collecting my milk through donation to a milk bank!” she says.