I admit, I’ve never participated in breastmilk sharing myself. Yes, I breastfed both of my babies (and pumped at work) for a little over a year with each of my boys. But I didn’t participate in any milk donation, and I wasn’t ever a recipient of donor milk.
Did the thought cross my mind at various points to be either a donor or recipient? YES. With my first son, I seemed to have an under-supply of milk. I had to pump three times a day at work and barely eeked out enough ounces to fill his bottles for the next day. In those days, an easy system for finding a donor – and more awareness around the long history of breastmilk sharing – would have dramatically reduced my anxiety level about feeding my baby.
With my second son, I had a massive over-supply of milk. (Yes, everything can be *so* different with a second or subsequent child!) That time around, I only had to pump twice a day at work. And every time I pumped, milk seemed to come gushing out. I often wished other babies would have been able to benefit from this abundant supply. But I had no easy way of finding out how to go about donating milk.
Enter Kelly Cox. She’s the amazing and passionate Founder of “Share the Drop,” an app that makes it easy to connect with people in your community who need milk and who want to share. I invited her to share her story and some information about this app on the Mindful Return blog today. If you know someone who is currently breastfeeding, please share this amazing resource with them. Welcome, Kelly!
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I’m Kelly, the founder of Share the Drop, a web-based app designed to connect women with excess breast milk to parents seeking it for their infants. I’ve spent nearly two decades working with expectant and new mothers, despite never having children of my own or the desire to become a mother. From the outset, I knew my path lay elsewhere.
How did I become an expert in pregnancy and birth, a passionate advocate for all things pre-, peri-, and postnatal, and even earn the nickname “baby whisperer”? The journey was quite unexpected. I began my career as a licensed clinical social worker. I aided mothers and children in managing the myriad stresses of parenthood, overcoming depression, lifelong trauma, and the healthier expression of emotions. However, I sensed that therapy alone wasn’t my entire calling.
Through my work as a therapist and then as a prenatal yoga teacher and birth doula, I noticed the immense pressure surrounding infant feeding. Society champions breastfeeding as the natural and best choice, often stigmatizing those who struggle with it. Many mothers confided in me about their struggles with breastfeeding. And the accompanying feelings of failure. I saw firsthand how feeding challenges could lead to anxiety and depression. However, I also witnessed the powerful support and camaraderie among these mothers, forming tight-knit communities.
Then, my life took an unexpected turn when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This experience brought me into a new supportive network of survivors who guided me through this challenging journey. It was then I realized another layer of the breastfeeding challenge: helping survivors who could no longer produce milk.
In response, I started sourcing donated milk for those in need. Some donors had an excess supply. Others had experienced the loss of a child. And some were previous recipients wanting to give back. My mission became ensuring that any parent desiring human milk for their child could obtain it. I turned into a one-woman milk delivery system, connecting donors with recipients and often personally delivering the milk.
Informal milk sharing wasn’t new, but many parents relied on cumbersome Facebook groups, which proved time-consuming and challenging, especially for new, exhausted parents. Realizing there had to be a better way, I envisioned an app that could simplify this process. I wanted to make connections as seamless as a dating app.
Thus, Share the Drop was born. Visit sharethedrop.com to learn more about our mission and how we’re making milk sharing easier and more accessible for all. We are dedicated not only to helping parents source and donate breast milk in a more timely manner, but also to helping families find one another in their own communities.
Users create accounts based on their zip codes, in an effort to avoid costly and time consuming shipping. It is my mission not only to get milk to infants in need, but also to build communities of support amongst families during the early childbearing years.
You can also follow us on Instagram to keep up with our mission!
Kelly Cox, RPYT, RPYS, LCSW, Birth Doula, E-RYT 500 is a registered prenatal yoga teacher and birth doula who has supported thousands of families through pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. Taking note of her clients’ emotional well-being, Kelly realized that feeding newborns created a wave of stress, pressure, and often led to postpartum depression. She held weekly free lactation support groups and regularly helped match local families with an excess supply of milk to families in need. As a breast cancer survivor, she gave particular attention to fellow survivors sourcing milk for their infants. One evening, Kelly was scrolling through her contacts to source extra milk for a doula client, when she received a text from a dating app that she had “matched” with a prospective date. The idea of a mobile breastmilk sharing app to match human milk donors and recipients was born!
Want more practical tips on working parenthood? Check out my book, Back to Work After Baby: How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave
