A video of a woman vacationing in Japan and drinking her own breastmilk has gone viral on TikTok, leaving many amazed at her efforts.
Breastfeeding mothers on vacation are subject to strict schedules to feed their babies or collect the “liquid gold” for future use.
TikTok user @jemielimtiktok shared with the online community her decision to drink her breastmilk instead of dumping it.
“I drank 4,450 ML of my own breastmilk in Hokkaido. My initial plan was to store my expressed breast milk (EBM) in hotel freezer, but unexpected circumstances happened,” she wrote.
The mother told MustShare News that she contacted their hotel in advance to ask if she could use their freezer to store her EBM properly.
The hotel agreed although it wasn’t recommended because they couldn’t guarantee the quality of the milk.
The mother discovered the following day that the EBM was not frozen, hence her dilemma of drinking or throwing away the milk.
She ended up drinking batches of EBM on the plane and pumping at “random places” in Hokkaido, as there weren’t any nursing rooms accessible.
Only the EBM pumped on the first day was stored and brought back successfully to Singapore.
Those who know the importance of pumping on schedule and avoiding breast engorgement commended the mother’s decision.
“It’s pure dedication and hard work. Jiayouuu mommy,” wrote a TikTok user. “Yes, every drop is precious! It’s called liquid gold for a reason. You go, supermama!” said another netizen.
“Only mothers know this kind of sacrifice,” added TikTok user Janwari_13.
A netizen asked what it tasted like, and the mother replied, “Sweet!”
When asked why she didn’t throw it away and if there was something about drinking the milk to produce more for the baby, the mother said she could have dumped the milk. It’s “just that I very heart pain to throw as pumping uses up a lot of energy.”/TISG
Breastfeeding mothers should be encouraged and protected, not shamed – Yiswaree Palansamy