Legacy Donor Spotlight: Bicky Nguyen

Bicky Nguyen and her children.

Over the past decade the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank has been fortunate to receive support from generous milk donors across Ontario. We recently caught up with legacy donor, Bicky Nguyen.

Bicky first crossed paths with the Milk Bank in 2013, after giving birth to her first child. Her youngest child was born prematurely, and in the first weeks of his life, she was unable to produce breastmilk. Once her milk supply came in, she thought about other families who may have found themselves in similar situations. This steered her along the path to become a Milk Bank donor.

Bicky shares:

My youngest child was around five weeks when my milk supply came in; once it did, I was fortunate to produce a lot of milk. I would joke that I was soaked in breastmilk! I would pump on one breast while nursing on the other, and would put the pumped breastmilk in storage bags right afterwards.

It’s been close to a decade since I was a donor, but I’ve always talked about the Milk Bank to moms. I had both of my babies through In vitro fertilization (IVF). I was introduced through friends to a couple who also had their baby through IVF. They mentioned that their premature baby received donor milk in the NICU in 2013 – roughly around the same time I became a donor. It made me feel really great to see the family on the other end receiving donor milk. It was really fulfilling and very much a full circle moment. The Milk Bank also sent me a thank you note after I donated breastmilk, which brought tears to my eyes. It really made me feel proud.

It’s in us to give and if you can do it, someone else can benefit from the natural antibodies and nutrition. You’re helping premature babies who need it.

Thank you Bicky for sharing your personal experience as a Milk Bank donor. Hearing from Bicky – one of our earliest donors – is also a full circle moment for the Milk Bank team.

We love to hear from all of our donors, both past and present. Do you have a story to share? Contact us at [email protected] or tag and follow us on Instagram and share your content using the hashtag #MilkBankOntario.