Heartbroken mum of stillborn baby told by boss: ‘But your baby is dead’

When Amy Anderson lost her baby son, Bryson, who was stillborn at 20 weeks, she soon found that she began lactating.

But, while her doctor advised her to bind her breast and take Sudafed to stop her body producing milk, the grieving mum decided instead to do something phenomenally brave.

"Initially I tried to suppress the milk, but I was so engorged and pained that I finally decided to express a bit before mastitis began,” she told Yahoo.

"With tears flowing on my cheeks and golden tears quickly filling the bottles, I felt a huge burden lifted."

After conducting some research, Amy learned there was strong demand for donor breast milk, which can be used to lower the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which is the second-leading cause of death for premature babies in the US.

Her ‘breast milk’ was very rich - and would be perfect for helping premature and high-needs babies - so she decided to pump her milk and donate to a local milk bank.

She explained: “It was considerably healthier than full-term breast milk, as my body made it to sustain the life of a significantly premature baby.”

While it was a very brave decision, however, it was not one that was met with support.

At work, when asking for permission to take breaks for pumping, her boss coldly told her: “Your baby is dead.”

But, rather than let that put her off, Amy decided to put her efforts into raising awareness and support for bereaved and surrogate mums who aren't legally entitled to nursing breaks.

She told Yahoo: "Bereaved and surrogate mothers are left unprotected by this law simply because our bodies continued to lactate though we did not have an infant at home to nourish, regardless of the lactating mother's own health.

"Professionals need to know that lactation can happen even as early as with a second trimester loss.

"I am in the very beginning stages of eliciting support from my local legislators to amend this terminology."

Amy now uses her Facebook page to “bring support, education and advocacy to Mothers faced with lactation following the devastation of baby loss.”

Amy Anderson pumped breast milk for eight months following the loss of her beautiful baby boy, Bryson, donating nearly 350 litres to little ones in need.

This led to more than 30,000 feedings - and saved countless lives.

Amy said firmly: "It gave meaning to my Bryson's life and helped others from feeling the unfathomable pain of baby loss.”

**Would you do the same in Amy's position? **

Let us know via Facebook or Twitter (@CloserOnline) now.

Read her inspiring interview in full here now.