Hi, I’m J’Nel, and I founded Milk Mentors to support families with breastfeeding and providing breastmilk for their babies. We are a non-profit community organisation run by volunteers who’ve all experienced their own breastfeeding challenges, and want to help others.

Currently, there's no local breast pump loan scheme in Milton Keynes. Families in Milton Keynes who need to hire a breast pump have to hire directly from manufacturers or buy their own. The costs can be unaffordable, and the wait time for delivery can contribute to breastfeeding and milk supply problems.

Please help Milk Mentors to fund a community breast pump loan scheme, accessible to all families in the Milton Keynes area. All families should have access to skilled infant feeding support, and necessary equipment like quality, multi-user breast pumps. It should not be a post-code lottery.

Across the UK, we know that up to 90% of new parents begin with breastfeeding or trying to breastfeed. In some areas, as many as a third of families who started off breastfeeding have stopped by the time of their 6-8 week checkup. Research shows that up to 80% of mums who ever breastfed stopped breastfeeding before they wanted to. This is often due to lack or support or lack of access to necessary services.

Breastfeeding and access to breast milk is a human right for every mum and baby. Research shows that every drop of breastmilk has a measurable, positive impact for a baby’s growth and development, and that high quality breastfeeding support and access to services can be protective to mothers and lactating parents mental health.

Any amount you can donate will help Milk Mentors to provide the service all new parents and babies deserve. Together, we can make a difficult time easier with the support and equipment new parents need, when they need it.