‘We got your back,’ Hong Kong breast milk donors tell mums of premature babies
Hong Kong Children’s Hospital in Kowloon Bay is home to the city’s first breast milk bank, which hopes to collect 1,000 litres a year
When Hongkonger Kristina Lau Yin-fuk’s premature infant daughter was admitted to hospital due to being underweight and having newborn jaundice, the mother cried as she desperately tried to pump breast milk.
Lau had to produce milk every three hours to help her daughter gain weight, but struggled to express enough as the mother of a premature infant, finding herself becoming exhausted and lacking enough sleep.
“I would be very happy if I could express another 5 millilitres of breast milk,” she recalled on Tuesday. “I was crying non-stop and did not eat at all. When it was time, I would need to start to express milk … It would take an hour.”
Her daughter, Li Yi-ching, is a now healthy three-month-old baby, and Lau’s persistent efforts have ensured there is more than enough breast milk stored in the family’s fridge.
Knowing the pain of breastfeeding a premature infant, Lau said she decided to donate her extra bottles to Hong Kong’s first breast milk bank, which opened on Monday.
“With us providing extra milk and nutrients to premature infants, their mothers do not have to worry,” she said. “We have their back, so they can rest well and take good care of their babies when they return home.”
