NHS Tameside and Glossop have gained the valuable support of a local mother in its mission to promote the use of breastfeeding as part of getting the best start in life for children. Kendal Hunt not only helps us spread the good word on the use of breast milk, she has also donated some of her own!
Kendal Hunt is a mum of four children living in the Ashton area. She bottle fed her first two children, but after learning the benefits of breastfeeding for herself and her baby from a friend she breastfed her last two babies. She is currently breastfeeding her youngest child, a little girl called Hollie.
Kendal also completed the volunteer breastfeeding peer supporter training at St. Peter's Children's Centre, and now helps to promote breastfeeding amongst others in her community.
She has now gone a step further in her support of breastfeeding, by becoming a milk donor at the Wirral Milk Bank in Merseyside. She makes regular donations of her breast milk to help other babies born early gain the health benefits of human milk where their mothers are unable to establish an adequate milk supply.
The health advantages from breast feeding are well established. Amongst other benefits, studies show that breastfed babies are less likely to suffer from:
- gastro-intestinal infections
- respiratory infections
- necrotising enterocolitis
- urinary tract infections
- ear infections
- allergic disease (eczema and wheezing)
- insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
- sudden infant death syndrome and
- childhood leukaemia.
Infant Feeding Co-ordinator Fiona Munro Muotune says “Kendal has
kindly donated her milk so mothers who can’t breastfeed are still able to get the valuable health benefits for their babies. We thank her for her generous gesture, and would urge other mothers to follow her example.”
Kendal Hunt says “Drinking breast milk does wonders for your baby’s health, and I’m happy to help those who aren’t able to breastfeed get the same benefits I’ve had for my children.”
Tameside babies have already benefited from the Wirral Milk Bank and we hope to maintain the supplies of donated milk by putting them in touch with more local mums like Kendal. If you are breastfeeding a baby under six months of age, and are interested in donating your breastmilk to help other babies, then please contact local Infant Feeding Coordinators Helen Howard and Fiona Munro-Muotune on 0161 368 4242.