CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — In this season of giving, 10 On Your Side is shining light on a very special gift, the gift of health and healing after the loss of an infant.
In 2017, Betsy Berry of Chesapeake gave birth to twin girls.
“Our girls were born early, so they came at 24 weeks. Ruby lived one week and she died of a brain hemorrhage … and then our daughter Paige lived a little over two months,” she said.
Reminders of their precious girls adorn the Berry family home at Christmas. Their stockings are hung among those of their four siblings, right beside a breast pump.
“Grief over losing a child, at least in my experience, feels like you have all this love but you can’t express it because you’re not there and this was such a tangible expression of love for my girls,” Berry told WAVY.
Breast milk is often referred to as liquid gold. Just one ounce can treat four babies in a NICU, greatly reducing their risk of life threatening illnesses. Berry learned that when her first born son was in the NICU for six months after he was born.
Years later, after losing her twins she started Googling: breast milk … NICU … and found Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters.
CHKD’s Breast Milk Bank supplies dozens of hospitals from New Jersey to Florida.
“It’s like your baby’s footprints in NICUs up and down the East Coast providing that extra milk helping other babies to survive and thrive,” said CHKD Milk Bank Manager Ashlynn Baker.
Expressing milk is also therapeutic for new moms. Physically it helps reduce inflammation after childbirth and can help reduce a woman’s risk of ovarian and breast cancer.
“Emotionally when a mother lactates she releases natural hormones that reduce anxiety and depression,” Baker said.
“And part of what’s been so healing about it is how the milk bank handles it, they treat you like you’re royalty,” Berry said.
A crown necklace is given to each Legacy Mom to represent her donation to the King’s Daughters. The tiny pearl is a preserved drop of her milk — so she can always keep her baby close to her heart.
“It gave to me more than I will ever have words for, Berry said. “It gives an eternal impact, in my opinion, to Paige and Ruby’s lives.”
As the Berry family grows, so does their legacy. Baby Bristol is now sharing her milk as mom continues to pump, and provide a gift so few can give.
Berry pumped milk for just over a year after the twins died, and has donated more than 10,000 ounces of breast milk to sick babies.
If you or someone you know has lost an infant or if you have a healthy baby and just produce more milk than your baby needs and want to donate, click here.