Capital Region woman donates 3,000 ounces of breast milk to New York Milk Bank

STILLWATER, N.Y. -- A Capital Region woman has made a remarkable contribution to the New York Milk Bank, donating more than 23 gallons of breast milk over the past year. Catherine Sydow, from Stillwater, who gave birth to her daughter Margot last year, said she always intended to breastfeed because of "just the bonding experience and then also the antibodies and just all the nutrients that I can pass on to her and immunity," said Sydow.

What she didn’t know is just how much milk she would be able to produce. "When I was producing like five ounces from each side, I was like, Oh, we have a lot of milk going on."

Sydow began freezing the extra milk, storing about four to six ounces each time. By the time Margot was six months old, Sydow had donated 1,000 ounces of breast milk to the New York Milk Bank, dropping it off at the milk depot at Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville. Last month, she donated an additional 2,000 ounces.

Rachel Granger, executive director of the New York Milk Bank, emphasized the significance of such a donation. "Our minimum donation is 100 ounces," Granger said. "It's like liquid gold, which really we can't understate. So Catherine's instance is really the exception and pretty phenomenal. We're so grateful to her."

Donors to the milk bank must undergo a screening process and approval. Once accepted, their milk is pasteurized, bottled, and distributed to NICUs in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Granger noted that the milk bank directly assisted about 300 families last year.

Sydow says she'll likely continue to donate as she's still breastfeeding and pumping four times a day. "It feels good to know that it's gonna be used and that I can help her, I can help somebody else," she said.

To accommodate her donations, Sydow stores the excess milk in multiple freezers at her home, as well as at her parents’ and in-laws’ houses.