Mom With Hyperlactation Syndrome Has Donated a Whopping 600 Gallons of Breast Milk

An Oregon mother of two is doing her part to help babies in need. Recently diagnosed with Hyperlactation Syndrome, Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra estimates she’s donated more than 600 gallons of breast milk over the last two-and-a-half years. While many would call Anderson-Sierra a hero (I certainly do!), the mom says helping others is just “kinda ingrained in who I am.”

Anderson-Sierra started donating some of her milk to Beaverton-area moms after the birth of her first daughter, Isabella, in 2014. It wasn’t until her daughter, Sophia, was born that she truly realized how important donated breast milk can be. Sophia was born at 37 weeks after a 30-hour labor, and Anderson-Sierra was unable to breast feed for 24 hours.

”My body was just exhausted so she had to have donor milk for the first couple of feedings,” Anderson-Sierra told PEOPLE. ”That experience did help fuel my passion and my desire even further to continue to donate milk, because I was in that situation myself.”

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Hyperlactation syndrome

Sophia, who is now 6 months old, consumes between 20-28 ounces of milk a day. Anderson-Sierra produces an average of 225 ounces daily.

That’s almost TWO GALLONS of breast milk.

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She then donates her supply to milk banks and to local moms and families in her community.

The mom receives $1 per ounce of donated breast milk, but this definitely isn’t a money-making endeavor for her. She reinvests the majority of that money into buying pumps, sanitation kits, and freezers to store the milk. “I barely break even,” she says.

It’s also incredibly time-consuming. Anderson-Sierra estimates that she spends upwards of ten hours per day pumping, packaging, and coordinating with milk banks and milk recipients. ”So far pumping hasn’t really stopped myself or my family from doing things, but it does add an extra hiccup in there,” she told People.

Still, she doesn’t mind the hiccup. ”If everybody had this kind of mentality, the world would be a better place,” she says. ”I feel like I am doing my part, one ounce at a time.”

(Image: Facebook / Elisabeth Keturah Anderson-Sierra)

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