Moms Helping Moms: Lakelia Stanley's Milk Bank Donation Story

Lakelia Stanley is a Chief Probation/Parole Officer for the Adult Corrections Facility in Wake County. As a working mom navigating her second pregnancy, she was very familiar with pumping and managing her supply. On November 5, 2023, Lakelia gave birth to her second child, a daughter she named Saige.

All went well, except this time, she was facing a peculiar breastfeeding issue: a significant over supply. 

"I breastfed my son back in 2019 and 2020 and had enough stored not to worry about feedings while I was away at work, but this time, I was producing a massive amount of milk." 

An Over Abundance of Nourishing Goodness

In March 2024, Lakelia's maternity leave ended, and she went back to work with a freezer halfway filled with frozen milk. Her husband, an avid fisherman teased that the freezer was filling quickly, making little space for his fish catches.

"He's a fisherman and always brings home some type of fish for the freezer." 

After a little back and forth about feeding their daughter versus storing fish, Lakelia began seeking ideas for use of excess milk. 

Ideas for Excess Milk

"I came across ideas, such as making soaps and lotions or using the milk for baths, but I stopped in my tracks when I discovered I could donate it to support fragile babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Lakelia found the process to become a donor quite easy. She reached out to WakeMed Mothers' Milk Bank, submitted her information and was contacted by a WakeMed representative concerning milk donations. 

"I had to answer a series of questions about the birth of my daughter and any medications I was prescribed after childbirth. I also had to explain the process of how I stored my milk, how I labeled my bags, the type of breast pump I utilized, how I cleaned my pump parts and more."

A Donation Given. A Life Saved

After this, the WakeMed Mothers' Milk Bank team walked her through the donation process over the phone. Staff emailed all the forms and steps to donate milk. She then had to reach out to her daughter's pediatrician along with her OB-GYN to check their medical statuses and complete paperwork. 

"I also had to have blood work. Once I finished all the steps in the process, I was ready to donate milk."  

When preparing donor milk bags, Lakelia places the expressed milk in a sterile breastmilk bag. The bags are labeled with the date and her donor identification number. Once completed, she immediately places the milk in the refrigerator. She is required to freeze the milk within 24 hours of it being pumped. 

"My first donation totaled 390 ounces of breast milk. My second donation was 634 ounces of milk, which provided over 1,300 feedings for babies in the NICU. For each donation, I received a t-shirt and additional storage milk bags. All together, I have donated over 1,000 ounces of breastmilk, and I'm still storing for additional donations." 

Considerations for Becoming a Donor

Lakelia recommends that other women considering donation do their homework to make sure it will work for them. It is a bit of work, but it is worth it.

"If you are making excess milk, and it’s going to waste, why not give it to someone who could benefit from the milk? I am so fortunate to have a healthy baby girl who I've had the opportunity to breastfeed. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to have my baby born with complications, and then worry about giving my child the most natural and healthy feeding options. I'm helping a mother feel at ease about feedings, which is one less thing she has to worry about."    

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The Benefits of Breast Milk

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of baby’s life. Beyond six months, breastfeeding should be maintained along with nutritious complementary foods. There are continued benefits from breastfeeding beyond one year for babies, and up to two years, especially in the mother. 

The amazing benefits of breast milk for babies include the following: 

• Lower risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Protection against respiratory and diarrheal diseases
• Reduced ear infections
• Decreased risk of obesity
• Reduced likelihood of Type 1 diabetes
• Lower risk of childhood cancers
• Protection against allergies 

Benefits also abound for breastfeeding mothers! 

Breastfeeding causes a surge in a hormone called oxytocin that helps the uterus to shrink and prevents excess bleeding, helping moms heal faster after birth and decreasing risk of anemia and infections. Breastfeeding can also help lower a mom’s risk of osteoporosis later in life as well as reduce the risk of breast, uterine, endometrial and ovarian cancers.

About the WakeMed Mothers' Milk Bank

Each year, more than 10,000 babies are born prematurely in North Carolina. These fragile newborns need the best possible nutrition to grow and develop into healthy infants. Breast milk has life-saving antibodies that protect preemies, as well as full-term infants, against disease, illness and intestinal infections.

Mother’s milk is best. However, ill, premature babies sometimes cannot breastfeed, and frequently their mothers are unable to pump enough milk for them. For a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), milk donations can be essential to life.

This is where you come in. WakeMed Mothers’ Milk Bank is a non-profit milk bank that provides safe, pasteurized donor milk to babies in hospital NICUs in North Carolina and all along the east coast — breast milk donated by parents like you.