Lactation consultant Chaya Millet established a kosher milk bank to help moms feed the most vulnerable babies

Nechama had two small children and was looking forward to the birth of her third. But things didn’t go as planned. She was only at 28 weeks when she woke up at five a.m. with strong contractions.  She was rushed to the hospital and within just an hour, delivered her baby. He weighed only two pounds, and was whisked away to the NICU, with tubes and wires protruding from all over his small body.

While he was too small to eat orally and required tube feeding, the staff told Nechama that the best thing for him would be mother’s milk rather than formula. When she heard that, she burst into tears. It always takes time for mothers of preemies to build up even a small milk supply, and the stress of the unexpected early delivery plus the anticipated prolonged stay in the hospital had affected her ability to pump.

Nechama’s husband quickly called their rav, who said that as the milk was a medical necessity for the baby, it would be permitted for him to be given milk from a general milk bank, but of course, it would be preferable to find a Jewish mother’s milk. Many networking calls, text messages, and emails later, Nechama’s husband was able to obtain kosher milk for their baby boy.

“It was hard enough to be in the hospital with such a preemie who was fighting for his life,” Nechama remembers. “Even worse was that I couldn’t help him. The thought of giving him non-Jewish milk was so painful to me. Being able to give my son milk from a Jewish woman made the situation so much more bearable. And the sense of achdus I felt from some woman I never have and probably will never meet made me feel so loved and cared for.”