CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Thousands of Ohioans are still without power, including first-time mothers trying to preserve their breast milk.
Jocelyn Lewis gave birth to her first little boy a month ago.
Last weekend, Lewis was hospitalized for gallbladder surgery. When she was discharged on Tuesday, everything was normal for about three hours, then the storm came.
“I’m still trying to nurse him and recover at the same time. I can’t pump because we don’t have power. We’ve been doing everything in the dark – trying to figure everything out. It’s been very, very difficult,” Lewis said. “It really feels like the worst week of my life. It feels like I get over one thing and something else happens and now I’m just scared of what’s going to happen next?”
When the power went out, Lewis’ first thought was what to do with her supply of breast milk.
“I cried over my breast milk. It really scared me because it’s a lot of work and pumping is extremely exhausting. It’s food for your baby and you just don’t want anything to mess with it and throwing it all away is probably the most heartbreaking thing you can do,” she added.
Another new set of parents: Joshua and Makenna Brogan.
The Brogans had their first little boy a week ago.
“We had at least $1,000 worth of food at home, so we didn’t have to leave this month for newborn life. We were pretty desperate about how we were going to save it all. We started having reflux, a buildup of breast milk, and we were wondering how we were going to do this. Finally, we got coolers, threw ice packs in them, and put the whole thing in the fridge so it was extra insulated,” Makenna explained.
Joshua described the last few days of trying to navigate their lives as “hectic to say the least.”
“There were a lot of emotions involved. We were trying to figure out what exactly we were going to do. We were weighing our options and deciding if it was worth it for me to try and buy a generator, which isn’t exactly cheap either,” Joshua explained.
Luckily, the Brogans and Lewis have relatives who live only 15-30 minutes away.
“I would say we saved 99% of what we had in the house and we are very happy about that,” Joshua said.
“My aunt was so kind. She cleared out one side of her freezer to put all my breast milk in there,” Lewis added.
For others, the OhioHealth Mother’s Milk Bank gave News 5 some suggestions on how to not only store milk but also prepare for a power outage.
“One of the most important things is not to open the freezer unless you have to. I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s good if they have both a fridge freezer and a freezer, so they can keep a small amount in the fridge freezer. They could use that in case of a power outage and leave the freezer closed,” explained Marla Wilson, a nurse at OhioHealth and donor coordinator for the Mother’s Milk Bank.
Wilson said breast milk can also be refrozen according to CDC guidelines.
“As long as there are still ice crystals in the milk, you can freeze it again,” she says.
To prepare for a power outage, Wilson suggests filling a cup with water and freezing it. Once the water is frozen, place a coin on top.
“If there was another power outage, the ice cream would thaw and the quarter or nickel would fall. They would know if their milk had thawed and refrozen when the coin moved in the ice tray. That way they could be sure that the temperature in their freezer had remained constant,” Wilson said.
She added that if breast milk is stored in a cooler between ice cubes, it should maintain a healthy temperature.
Wilson said breast milk can last for several days if you follow these tips.
Lewis recommends using breast milk instead of throwing it away, which she has used every other bath to help soothe her son’s eczema.
The breast milk bank cannot store breast milk from outside unless the person goes through the organ donation process or is an approved donor.
However, Wilson said a church or local health facility may be able to store breast milk.
If you need to donate breast milk, the OhioHealth Mother’s Milk Bank has distribution locations throughout Northeast Ohio. There is also a milk bank in Columbus.
However, there is an application process and to receive breast milk from a donor, it must be prescribed by a doctor.
“We have a little bit of paperwork. Just some demographic information that we need to collect to be able to do that. They have a very limited supply, but we can ship it to them overnight on dry ice. That would be something they could discuss with their pediatrician if their baby is not taking anything other than breast milk,” Wilson added.
To contact the OhioHealth Mother’s Milk Bank, email [email protected]. The main number is 614-566-0630.
Wilson said she is also available to answer questions at 614-566-0631.
The Illuminating Company sent a text message to customers in certain areas this week advising that power will be restored no later than 11:30 p.m. on August 14.
“We will make it,” said Makenna.
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