October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. It is important for us at Mothers' Milk Bank of Tennessee to observe Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month because we want to recognize a special group of our milk donors.
Each of our milk donors are special to us yet there is a group of donor moms that hold an extra special place in our hearts. They are individuals that have experienced the worst imaginable loss and that is the loss of a child.
Teardrops and Milk Drops is our donor program for bereaved mothers that offers a simplified path to donating milk after a loss. Some mothers find a sense of healing by donating their breast milk to other babies in need. Becoming a milk donor after the devastating loss of a child is a very personal decision. It is not a decision that is expected or commonly known about to the general population.
Since 2021, over 50 mothers from all across Tennessee have made the decision to honor their baby's legacy through milk donation. From the time the Teardrops and Milk Drops program was established, we wanted to find a meaningful way to demonstrate our deepest gratitude to our bereaved donors and provide an opportunity for others to learn of their child's significant legacy.
This summer, the Art Ministry of the Experience Community Church in Murfreesboro painted a beautiful tree and landscape inside the Milk Bank. Each baby lost is represented by an engraved gold metal leaf on the large tree of the mural. Bereaved parents are able to select the inscription of their baby's leaf.
Over the last few months, our team has had the honor of meeting some of these extradentary mothers that chose to give to others during the hardest season of their own lives. It is so important to us that each family that comes to hang their baby's leaf on the mural feels our admiration and gratitude. When we pass each leaf that has been placed, we remember each life and each story. We are honored to share their legacy with others. Their lives despite however short, left behind a significant legacy for us to honor.
In observance of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, Mothers' Milk Bank of Tennessee is hosting a Remembrance Celebration for Bereaved Donors and their families on Sunday, October 20 at 2 pm (central). The event will be held at our facility at 2909 Old Fort Parkway, Suite 105, Murfreesboro, TN. Click here to learn more.
Special thanks to our Event Committee Members:
Ashley Edwards, Krista Mitchell, Lauren Souther and Regan Loosli.
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