One mums journey to breastmilk donor
Breastmilk donor Hannah shares a deeply personal story of joy and loss to promote the expansion of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood’s donated pasteurised human milk program.
Working as a women’s health physiotherapist, Hannah Top has been helping women prepare for birth and recovery postpartum as her career.
When she fell pregnant with twins in 2025, Hannah planned to breastfeed her babies.
Admitted into Westmead Hospital due to her high-risk pregnancy at 25 weeks, each week she had the goal of progressing just one more week, slowly growing her girls.
An early labour at 29 weeks led an emergency caesarean, where she birthed Harriet and Matilda, each weighing a tiny 1200 grams.
Sadly, Harriet passed away at three days old.
The grief of losing a baby and planning a funeral, with another baby in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), had a huge emotional toll on first time parents Hannah and Luke.
One of the things that comforted them in a time of intense joy and grief was that their girls, including Harriet, were able to access donated breast milk in their first few days of life.
Pasteurised donor human milk provides an important alternative feeding option for babies born prematurely.
“I knew from my research that I wanted to breastfeed, I was very determined to make it work,” Hannah said.
A mother’s own milk is always the preferred feeding option, however a proportion of premature babies may require additional milk until, like in Hannah’s case, their mother’s own supply is established.
“Knowing my baby girl Harriet had [donated] breastmilk is of great comfort to me,” Hannah said.
Hannah and Luke commuted to Westmead from their Emu Plains home for more than two months with baby Matilda in NICU.
Now exclusively breastfeeding Matilda, a thriving and cheeky five-month-old, Hannah has channelled her own gratitude and grief, donating her own breast milk to other mums in a similar position.
Hannah is sharing her story as NSW Health announces the expansion of the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood’s donated pasteurised human milk program. This will see access to donated milk at an additional 28 hospital special care units, including Blacktown Hospital, along with hospitals with NICUs like Westmead.
New parents Hannah and Luke are thrilled the expanded program will mean more parents from Western Sydney will have access to donated breastmilk.
Minister for Health, Ryan Park acknowledged the power of Hannah’s story, as a driver behind expanding the program.
“I’m really moved by stories like Hannah’s that highlight how the program can help navigate the stress and uncertainty of having a premature baby in hospital.