Most Breastmilk Donated: Alicia Richman sets world record (VIDEO)
GRANBURY, Texas, USA -- As a new mother, Alicia Richman of Granbury, Texas, pumped, stored and donated 11,115 ounces of breastmilk (equivalent to 86.8 gallons) to The Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas between June 2011 and March 2012
- setting the new world record for the Most Breastmilk Donated,
according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/. Photo: North Texas mother and breastmilk donation World Record holder Alicia Richman, with her infant son. Photo: Momentum Public Relations (enlarge photo)
The Guinness world record for the most blood donated was 231 whole blood donations by Phillip Baird (Australia).
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the most blood pressure readings taken in 8 hours: 3,252 - achieved by the Bahrain Medical Society in cooperation with Manama Youth Centre in Imam Hussain Street in Manama, Bahrain.
The recipient of Richman's milk, The Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas, is a nonprofit human milk bank that provides donor breastmilk to neonatal intensive care units to feed premature and critically ill babies.
The Milk Bank honored Richman at their annual luncheon in September.
Richman, whose son was born in March 2011, began pumping her milk shortly after he was born. By the time she returned to work when he was 10 weeks old, she realized she had more than enough to feed her son. "I was so blessed to have more milk than I needed," says Richman, whose son is now 19 months old. "I pumped at work, on vacations, in the car. And I never had to buy formula."
When she had filled two freezers with pumped milk in plastic bags and bottles, she realized that she needed to put it to use or she would have to throw it away. "I started searching the Internet to find out what I could do with these freezers full of milk, and that's when I learned about The Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas."
For the first year of her son's life, Richman regularly donated her stored breastmilk. When she passed the 7,000 ounce mark, Simone Summerlin, who handles donor relations for the Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas, told her that she was on her way to being one of their largest volume milk donors.
Her World Record donation of 11,115 ounces is equivalent to 86.8 gallons.
"Alicia's generous gift of human milk has fed hundreds, and more likely, thousands of premature babies across the United States," explains Amy Vickers, executive director of The Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas. "Three ounces of donor human milk could be as much as nine feedings for a premature baby. We know that she's changed lives all over Texas and beyond, and we are proud to see her earn this recognition."
The Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas accepts donated milk from fully screened, healthy, breastfeeding mothers whose infants are under one year old. The donated milk is processed, tested for bacteria and frozen until ordered by a physician.
"We depend on donors like Alicia to sustain and grow our fragile infants whose mothers cannot provide them with their own milk," says Erin Hamilton Spence, MD, a Fort Worth neonatologist and former milk donor. "Her 'extra' milk saves lives."
