"Breast milk is the best for babies" - most, if not all, moms have probably heard this at one point in their lives. The statement is 100% true, of course, which is why the World Health Organization (WHO) states the following in its report on "Global strategy on infant and young child feeding."
"Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed for the six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health.
Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Exclusive breastfeeding from birth is possible except for a few medical conditions, and unrestricted exclusive breastfeeding results in ample milk production."
The beginnings of a noteworthy event.
"It all started when Jem Perez-Chua and Geraldyn Perez, the owners of Honeysuckle Philipppines, approached us with this idea to 'give back' by organizing a milkletting activity," Maricel Cua, co-founder of The Parenting Emporium (TPE) shares.
"We gladly agreed to co-organize because, as part of our advocacy on nutrition, one of our beneficiaries is the TPE Milksharing Hub. The TPE Milksharing Hub fully supports milkletting activities like this, and responsible milk sharing," she continues.
"We have participated in several milkletting efforts organized by local governments, hospitals, and even private groups. All collected milk from this particular event will go to the Fabella Milk Bank.
Jem shares why she and her sister Geraldyn through of holding the MilkShare event. "We've been distributing Honeysuckle breastmilk bags for over a year now and given the reception of Filipina moms to our brand, we want to give back as well," she says.
"We found out that the concept of breast milk donation is not common knowledge, and some mom actually end up with a lot of 'old fashion breast milk' because their babies simply weren't able to consume all of their stored milk.
"So we thought - wouldn't it be wonderful if another baby was able to benefit from that stored breast milk instead? It could possible even save lives!"
In addition, Jem and Geraldyn feel that there are "very few brands/organizations that are willing to set up breast milk drives, because these events are really non-profit." "So we want to help however way we can in something we feel very strongly about,"she adds.
Raising awareness, spreading the word about the advocacy
As self-declared "big supporters of breastfeeding," Jem and Geraldyn hope they can make the Mommy MilkShare event bigger in succeeding years.
"For this first event, we reached out to The Parenting Emporium for guidance and lots of help," Jem shares. "We found out that they have so much experience in this type of activity and we have none!"
"The Parenting Emporium even took care of looking for speakers exclusively for the mom-donors to listen to," Jem continues. "So it's really great that we are both very aligned on this endeavor, because we just really want to help moms in whatever way we can. We hope more brands can join us in this cause in the future."
The Mommy Milkshare MilkDrive: Uniting moms for the "breast cause" ever
"We know the benefits of breastfeeding extend beyond just the first year of life so we want to raise awareness about the importance of donating excess breast milk of moms - because there are so many babies who need the milk," Jem emphasizes.
"We don't want moms to ever consider feeding their babies with formula milk - especially in the few months, just because they think there is no other solution."
Jem adds that donating breast milk is very fulfilling because "you know that you are nurturing the life of another baby in need, on top of your own baby."
"We hope that we will be able to help a lot of moms and babies with what we can collect and donate, in partnership with The Parenting Emporium,"she concludes.
Event details to take note of
The Mommy Milkshare milkletting event is open to all breastfeeding moms who wish to donate their milk. "There is no registration fee, but it is exclusive for breast milk donors. Mommies should bring frozen milk, expressed within 3 months, and should also be willing to be screened,"Maricel expounds.
Aside from the milkletting activity, participants can expect different activities as well.
"Jem and Geraldyn wanted to help mothers at different levels, so we came up with the idea of free one-on-one consulatations for 4 moms (the first 4 to register) with a volunteer International Board Certified Lactation Consultant or IBCLC," Maricel shares. "There will also be relevant talks and lootbags for donors."
Below is the list of talks scheduled for the event:
- 10:00AM to 12:00NN, Developmental Milestones of Your Infant/Toddler
Speaker: Tanya Velasco of Guru Firm (Early Childhood and Family Life Experts)
- 1:00 to 2:00PM, Time Management Skills for the Busy Mom
Speaker: Candice Cipullo of "The Travelling Maybahay" blog
- 2:00 to 3:00PM, Overcoming Breastfeeding Challenges
Speaker: Joyce Martinez, RN, MSN, IBCLC
- 3:00 to 4:00PM, Managing Mommy Guilt
Speaker: MommyProofing Coach by Joy Dejos, Certified Professional Coach
It is hoped that through this event for moms by moms, the message of "growing together as parents" will be shared to all, and that parents - especially mothers - will be encouraged to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, and share what they have with others.
To pre-register for the event, kindly contact the TPE Events Hotline: 0917.811.0821. For updates from the The Parenting Emporium, please send an email to theparentingemporium@gmail.com or follow TPE on Facebook and Instagram @theparentingemporium. To get in touch with Honeysuckle Philippines, contact them on Facebook and on Instagram @honeysucklephils.
Additional information about The TPE Milksharing Hub
Even before the official launch of The Parenting Emporium last July 2015, its founders Maricel Cua and Beng Feliciano had already been committed to milk sharing, as one of the advocacies under their former business.
"As breastfeeding advocates and peer counselors, we discovered the need to provide expert-backed information to breastfeeding moms and breast milk to needy babies," Maricel shares.
"Through the community that they had built at the time, which was composed of mostly nursing moms, that need was soon answered - through the generosity of the moms who gave their precious breast milk donations," Beng adds.
Maricel and Beng emphasize that all donations were - and still are - conscientiously screened and pasteurized to make sure that the milk is clean and safe, especially for sick babies.
"Under what is now known as the TPE Milksharing Hub, pasteurized breast milk is distributed to babies whose mothers may be unable to provide them with sufficient breast milk for some reason," Maricel says.
Beng stresses that they make sure that the mothers who receive breast milk are given breastfeeding counseling and support so that they will eventually be able to provide breast milk for their own babies' needs.
"This is just one way by which we hope to 'give back' to others,"Maricel shares.
If you are interested in donating your excess milk to the TPE Milk Sharing Hub, you may contact Maricel Cua at 0917.642.7246, or Katrina Mitra at (02) 725.3723 or (02) 738.6272. You can also send an email to theparentingemporium@gmail.com.
Important reminders:
"We have participated in several milkletting efforts organized by local governments, hospitals, and even private groups. All collected milk from this particular event will go to the Fabella Milk Bank.
Jem shares why she and her sister Geraldyn through of holding the MilkShare event. "We've been distributing Honeysuckle breastmilk bags for over a year now and given the reception of Filipina moms to our brand, we want to give back as well," she says.
"We found out that the concept of breast milk donation is not common knowledge, and some mom actually end up with a lot of 'old fashion breast milk' because their babies simply weren't able to consume all of their stored milk.
"So we thought - wouldn't it be wonderful if another baby was able to benefit from that stored breast milk instead? It could possible even save lives!"
In addition, Jem and Geraldyn feel that there are "very few brands/organizations that are willing to set up breast milk drives, because these events are really non-profit." "So we want to help however way we can in something we feel very strongly about,"she adds.
Raising awareness, spreading the word about the advocacy
As self-declared "big supporters of breastfeeding," Jem and Geraldyn hope they can make the Mommy MilkShare event bigger in succeeding years.
"For this first event, we reached out to The Parenting Emporium for guidance and lots of help," Jem shares. "We found out that they have so much experience in this type of activity and we have none!"
"The Parenting Emporium even took care of looking for speakers exclusively for the mom-donors to listen to," Jem continues. "So it's really great that we are both very aligned on this endeavor, because we just really want to help moms in whatever way we can. We hope more brands can join us in this cause in the future."
The Mommy Milkshare MilkDrive: Uniting moms for the "breast cause" ever
"We know the benefits of breastfeeding extend beyond just the first year of life so we want to raise awareness about the importance of donating excess breast milk of moms - because there are so many babies who need the milk," Jem emphasizes.
"We don't want moms to ever consider feeding their babies with formula milk - especially in the few months, just because they think there is no other solution."
Jem adds that donating breast milk is very fulfilling because "you know that you are nurturing the life of another baby in need, on top of your own baby."
"We hope that we will be able to help a lot of moms and babies with what we can collect and donate, in partnership with The Parenting Emporium,"she concludes.
Event details to take note of
The Mommy Milkshare milkletting event is open to all breastfeeding moms who wish to donate their milk. "There is no registration fee, but it is exclusive for breast milk donors. Mommies should bring frozen milk, expressed within 3 months, and should also be willing to be screened,"Maricel expounds.
Aside from the milkletting activity, participants can expect different activities as well.
"Jem and Geraldyn wanted to help mothers at different levels, so we came up with the idea of free one-on-one consulatations for 4 moms (the first 4 to register) with a volunteer International Board Certified Lactation Consultant or IBCLC," Maricel shares. "There will also be relevant talks and lootbags for donors."
Below is the list of talks scheduled for the event:
- 10:00AM to 12:00NN, Developmental Milestones of Your Infant/Toddler
Speaker: Tanya Velasco of Guru Firm (Early Childhood and Family Life Experts)
- 1:00 to 2:00PM, Time Management Skills for the Busy Mom
Speaker: Candice Cipullo of "The Travelling Maybahay" blog
- 2:00 to 3:00PM, Overcoming Breastfeeding Challenges
Speaker: Joyce Martinez, RN, MSN, IBCLC
- 3:00 to 4:00PM, Managing Mommy Guilt
Speaker: MommyProofing Coach by Joy Dejos, Certified Professional Coach
It is hoped that through this event for moms by moms, the message of "growing together as parents" will be shared to all, and that parents - especially mothers - will be encouraged to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, and share what they have with others.
To pre-register for the event, kindly contact the TPE Events Hotline: 0917.811.0821. For updates from the The Parenting Emporium, please send an email to theparentingemporium@gmail.com or follow TPE on Facebook and Instagram @theparentingemporium. To get in touch with Honeysuckle Philippines, contact them on Facebook and on Instagram @honeysucklephils.
Additional information about The TPE Milksharing Hub
Even before the official launch of The Parenting Emporium last July 2015, its founders Maricel Cua and Beng Feliciano had already been committed to milk sharing, as one of the advocacies under their former business.
"As breastfeeding advocates and peer counselors, we discovered the need to provide expert-backed information to breastfeeding moms and breast milk to needy babies," Maricel shares.
"Through the community that they had built at the time, which was composed of mostly nursing moms, that need was soon answered - through the generosity of the moms who gave their precious breast milk donations," Beng adds.
Maricel and Beng emphasize that all donations were - and still are - conscientiously screened and pasteurized to make sure that the milk is clean and safe, especially for sick babies.
"Under what is now known as the TPE Milksharing Hub, pasteurized breast milk is distributed to babies whose mothers may be unable to provide them with sufficient breast milk for some reason," Maricel says.
Beng stresses that they make sure that the mothers who receive breast milk are given breastfeeding counseling and support so that they will eventually be able to provide breast milk for their own babies' needs.
"This is just one way by which we hope to 'give back' to others,"Maricel shares.
If you are interested in donating your excess milk to the TPE Milk Sharing Hub, you may contact Maricel Cua at 0917.642.7246, or Katrina Mitra at (02) 725.3723 or (02) 738.6272. You can also send an email to theparentingemporium@gmail.com.
Important reminders:
- Kindly prepare a Hepatitis-HIV profile that is less than six months old. If you have none, testing will be provided for free.
- Donated breast milk should be less than three months old from date of expression.
