An Oregon mother of two has set a Guinness World record in breast milk donation. Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra, a mother of two from Aloha, has saved the lives of 1000’s of premature babies, by donating around 1,600 liters of her breast milk over the past nine years.
Anderson-Sierra suffers from a rare medical condition that causes an oversupply of milk called hyperlactation syndrome. The life-altering condition often causes pain and discomfort. Nevertheless, she made probably the most out of it, by donating breast milk to assist 1000’s of infants everywhere in the world, especially those who’ve been labeled as “failure to thrive,” in accordance with the Guinness World Records website.
“Over the past nine years, I estimate my total donation numbers to be over 3,50,000 ounces. I’d not wish this condition on my worst enemy. It shouldn’t be fun. What number of individual babies have benefitted from my milk, that’s not possible to know,” Anderson-Sierra said in a video shared on Instagram.
Anderson-Sierra’s condition is brought on by the excessive production of the hormone prolactin, and she or he needs medication or a double mastectomy to stop the surplus milk production.
“There are a pair of the way to go about attempting to tone down this production of prolactin. There are medical interventions that I would want to look into and move forward with as a way to have it stop,” she said.
She believes that sharing her story would normalize breast milk donation. “I’m really hopeful that breaking this record and sharing my story will normalize milk sharing,” Anderson-Sierra added.
What causes hyperlactation?
Hyperlactation might be because of several reasons:
- Excessive production of prolactin
- Congenital predisposition
- An excessive amount of pumping
- Switching sides often while feeding or on a timed schedule
- Excessive variety of alveoli (milk sacs)
- Baby starts taking solids and breastfeeds less
Signs of hyperlaction:
In mother:
- Full and uncomfortable feelings even after breastfeeding
- Leaking of breast milk between feedings
- Sore nipples and nipple pain from infant biting
- Mastitis – a painful condition that causes clogging of ducts
In child:
- Colic pain
- Frequent choking, spitting up
- Biting on the nipple to slow the flow of milk
- Short restless feedings
- Frequent burping and gas between feedings
- Large green and frothy stools
- Rapid weight gain but uncomfortable between the feedings
Published by Medicaldaily.com