It is impossible to miss out on the Father’s Day posts on Facebook this week especially last Sunday. Most of us paid tribute to our dads along with loving messages, photos, and other tributes. Restaurants are so packed that you had to reserve a table a few days before the 17th.
June 17 marks the first Father’s Day for some new daddies and Jonas Kahlil Cabanayan is one of them. A few days before Father’s Day, June 11, would have been Kahlil and his wife Giki’s first wedding anniversary. It would also have been Giki’s first birthday as a mother.
Sadly, it seems that Kahlil was meant to celebrate those moments without his wife. While some daddies welcomed Father’s day with celebrations, Kahlil marked his first Father’s day with heartache.
His wife Giki passed away in March after giving birth to a daughter, their first-born, who they named Phoebe.
Since her passing, it has been, according to Kahlil in his published Facebook note, a “daily battle” in which he sometimes lost, but he promised that he would do his best to be a good father to his daughter.
“Even though I am broken during this time, you have my word and assurance that I will do my best to be a good father to my daughter. I have not lost my faith,” he wrote in the post.
Along with all the support he and his family are getting, his faith is what is helping him cope with the loss.
Breast-milk donations flood in for Phoebe
Kahlil’s story has inspired many to offer their support, through breastmilk donations for the little one, who will have to grow up without a mom. A freezer to keep the breast-milk donations was also given to them. Some have also donated baby clothes, mass cards, foodm and cash were given to Kahlil in support to his journey as a single dad, according to ABS-CBN news.
At this point of the article, some of you might wonder why there is such a thing as breast-milk donation. Why does Phoebe need breast-milk donations when there are lots of brands in the market offering formula milk?
image courtesy: dreamstime
It is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that breast milk is the best nutrition for infants. It provides natural antibodies and helps prevent constipation. It lowers the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and helps raise your child’s intelligence.
Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of your child being overweight as well as developing asthma, diabetes, high cholesterol, Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia, and lymphoma.
According to them, babies should only have breastmilk for the first six months. Even after other foods have been introduced they encourage the continuous breastfeeding until the baby is a year old or until both the mother and child are willing.
Breastfeeding benefits mommies, too!
Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of mothers developing breast and ovarian cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.
However, in some cases some mothers are unable to produce breast milk immediately after giving birth due to other circumstances such as medical illnesses or prematurity of the baby. Here is where breast milk donation comes in.
How does breast-milk donation work?
Some mothers produce milk more than how much their baby needs so they opt to give to those who do not have enough. Other mothers, on the other hand, have lost their babies, but their breasts still continue to produce milk.
Breast-milk donors, like blood donors, are carefully screened first to prevent the spread of infectious disease. Smokers are not allowed to donate breast-milk. However they will be allowed six months after they quit smoking. It is also not allowed to take any medication 48 hours before donating.
Staff of breast milk banks are trained in handling these donations properly so mothers can be assured that the milk given to their baby is safe from any infection.
Donation of breast milk is a big help to other mothers and babies especially those who are born prematurely. It is something that these mothers do for free.
If you are worried about how much you can donate, know that milk banks do not require a certain amount of milk from donors. Every drop of milk can help a mother and a baby greatly!
If you are interested to donate or is in need of breast-milk donations, check out this article.
sources: ABS-CBN News, WebMD, Human Milk Bank, Breastfeeding USA, WHO
Also READ: Baby in need of breast milk donations after both parents die in crash