By India Today World Desk: A mother of two, Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra, holds the Guinness World record for the largest donation of breastmilk by any individual. A native of Aloha, Oregon of the United States donated 1,599.68 litres (56,301.20 UK fl oz) to a milk bank between 20 February 2015 and 20 June 2018. In the endeavour, she has saved the lives of many premature babies.
“This only accounts for milk that I donated to a milk bank between the years of 2015 and 2018,” Guinness World record quoted Elisabeth as saying.
It is said that she has not only donated milk to local families but came out in support of recipients worldwide. Her donation estimates the total of breastmilk to be over 350,000 ounces.
“Being able to turn that around and [have] that label removed in so many different stories has just been everything to me,” she said.
“These are the things that I focus on. These are the positives and why I continue doing what I do.”
Elisabeth told the Guinness World record that, in one instance, she had helped a premature baby in Puerto Rico. The baby had lost his mother due to childbirth complications and his father had been purchasing breastmilk from a milk bank.
“My husband is Puerto Rican and we had gone to Puerto Rico right after Hurricane Maria,” she said.
She further spoke about her medical condition known as hyperlactation syndrome, where breastmilk overflow occurs due to increased milk production.
“My body creates a lot of the hormone called prolactin and that is what drives milk production,” said Elisabeth, while pressing on the importance of pumping equipment in order to yield so much breastmilk.
She said that the milk pumping equipment can make “all the difference” in the output.
“Your equipment is the most important part of honing in on if you’re a pumping mom,” said Elisabeth.
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