"Breastmilk Discarded"

My daughter was born prematurely and was cared for at the Simpsons Neonatal Unit, in Royal Infirmary Edinburgh. 

The infant feeding team - Rhian especially, was amazing and it was what kept me going in the struggle that I experienced with breastfeeding. I never had great supply, but with Rhian's and team's advice, I was always positively encouraged, supported, heard and understood on my journey. They were so close to my heart. 

Due to complications on my daughter's health, most of my breastmilk had to be stored until she was ready to receive it again. We kept it in the Simpson's freezers and I was filling up my home freezer as well. 

In December 2024, my daughter was transferred to Sick Kids, to the building across from Royal Infirmary and she spent a lot of time in critical care. 

The Simpson's team contacted the Critical Care (CC) team in regards to my stored milk, for which at the time I replied I was going to donate most of it & store as much as there was space for, as my daughter was not yet able to receive it. 

I communicated that to the CC nurse who asked me at the time. 

I notified the Donor Milk Bank for collection. 

The days went by and my daughter was able to start receiving some of my milk, so I called Simpson's to ask about my breastmilk & after quite some time that they were unsure of what happened, they called me back to let me know it was discarded. 

They claimed they never heard back so they simply decided to throw it out because they were lacking storage space apparently. 

Even though I was 5 mins away to a different building, they never called again after that first call to the critical care team, they never contacted me personally since they 'never heard back' , they never gave me a date by which they needed an answer or for the milk to be collected...

To say how devastating that was and how disregarded I felt, is an understatement. 

Those 5.5litres were hours and hours of commitment, hard work and tears for me. 

I never expected something like this to happen, especially after all the effort and encouragement that I received from the feeding team and without anyone to be notified ahead of it being thrown out (not even the Critical Care team was notified). 

Shocking, disappointing and rather disrespectful from the team that takes care of the freezer space in Simpson's (to clarify, that is not the infant feeding team). The fact that they deal with newborns only, knew we were across the road and did not bother to call again or contact us is any way, shows carelessness and I hope this post will urge them to sort out not their space - because it's not a space problem - but to sort out their processes and save the next parent from this devastation.

(Needless to say that the donor milk bank collectors drove all the way from Glasgow, only to send them back also empty handed.) 

To the infant feeding team and Rhian specifically, thank you. 

Thank you for the encouragement, the support, the love, the time you spent helping me with my dream of breastfeeding my baby. This world needs more of you.