A northern Texas mom made her way into the Guinness Book of World Records by donating more breast milk than any other woman has — nearly 87 gallons of it.
Alicia Richman, of Granbury, had a son last March and found she was producing more milk than she needed to feed him, according to a press release.
“I was so blessed to have more milk than I needed,” she recalled. “I pumped at work, on vacations, in the car. And I never had to buy formula.”
She saved money on formula, but soon ran out of room in her freezer to store her excess milk. Then she learned about the Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas, a nonprofit that provides mother’s milk to babies in intensive care whose own mothers can’t.
Richman started donating to the bank in June 2011, and by March of this year her gifts added up to 11,115 ounces, or 86.8 gallons — shattering the previous “Most Breast Milk Donated” record by more than 23 gallons.
Just three ounces of milk is enough to feed a premature infant nine times, said Amy Vickers, executive director of the Mothers’ Milk Bank. “Alicia’s generous gift of human milk has fed hundreds, and more likely, thousands of premature babies across the United States.”
Richman will be happy to have her record broken — she hoped to be Guinness certified in order to raise awareness of milk banks — though she could be her own toughest competition.
“I’m planning to beat my own record when we have a second baby,” she said.
(Content credit: NY Daily News)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com