‘It’s like liquid gold. It would just go to waste’

KATIE Hussey is on her second round of milk-donation having donated a record 15 litres when she had her first child.

Sligo GP Katie, 35, was asked by a paediatrician friend if she would consider donating when she gave birth to Lucy-Mae, now 22 months. Katie said: ‘My brother was three months premature and my mother tried to express milk but it didn’t work. He died at just three weeks, and she often said that if he’d had breast milk it might have helped. So that motivated me.’

With her first child Katie took advice from lactation consultant Pauline McLoughlin and the La Leche League. Katie, who gave birth to second daughter Sophie late last year, said: ‘Initially I found breastfeeding quite hard, but I was lucky and it got better. You just think, “Please God, I would never need to avail of this!” But you know it’s there when you’re part of it.’ She freezes the milk in bottles delivered to her by the Milk Bank before returning them by post. Once pasteurised at the trust, where it is tested by technician Vivienne Carson, left, milk can be stored for six months. ‘It is like liquid gold, and it just goes to waste otherwise,’ Katie said. ‘I’d advise anyone who can do it to donate. I’m lucky to be able to do this. I feel lucky when I send off the bottles that I have two healthy kids.’