This archive report was first published on 26 November 2019.
On September 5, Sierra Strangfeld gave birth to her son, Samuel Lee, two months before his due date. Tragically, Samuel was born with trisomy 18, a rare genetic condition that causes life-threatening birth defects. Despite this, Sierra was determined to meet her son and declined a termination.
Samuel lived for just three hours, but in that short time, Sierra was able to do skin-to-skin with him, which immediately raised his heart rate and oxygen levels. She expressed her milk and donated it to the Mother's Milk Bank in the Western Great Lakes, hoping to save another baby's life.
Sierra expressed milk for 63 days, eventually donating over 15 litres (500 ounces) of breastmilk. However, the decision took an emotional toll on her, and she admitted to feeling angry and questioning why she was producing milk with no baby to feed.
Despite the challenges, Sierra remained committed to her decision, motivated by the fact that she had sought expressed milk for her first-born, who had tongue-tie and needed donated milk for at least six months.
As Sierra expressed her milk, she wrote on Facebook, "Pumping is not for the faint of heart. It's hard. Mentally and physically. And it's even harder when you don't actually have a baby." However, she found solace in the fact that the act was connecting her to her son, Samuel, who was "here on Earthside."
