WATCH: S’porean Woman Consumes 4.5L Of Her Own Breast Milk During Japan Holiday To Avoid Wastage
Motherhood can be tricky, and breastfeeding women know that all too well. That’s why women worldwide sympathised with this 29-year-old woman who chose to down 4.5 litres of her EBM (expressed breast milk) to avoid wastage.
The woman, known as Jemie Lim, shared her plight on TikTok. She revealed in the video that she, her husband and 3-month-old child had just returned from Hokkaido, Japan:
@jemielimtiktok I drank 4450ML of my own breastmilk in Hokkaido My initial plan was to store my expressed breastmilk (ebm) in hotel freezer but unexpected circumstances happened so only first day of my ebm being stored and brought back to Singapore successfully #Motherhood #Breastmilk #Travelpumping ♬ original sound – Jemielimtiktok
During the holiday, she had the idea to freeze her EBM in the hotel’s fridge but was disappointed to learn that not all packets of her EBM had been entirely frozen. She had only managed to freeze and use some from the first day of her trip to feed her baby.
She then made the decision to not discard the ‘bad’ milk and drink it instead. When asked why she didn’t go ahead and feed her child, she noted that the milk, in that state, could prove harmful to her infant.
During the first minute of the footage, Lim could be seen pumping her breasts as she was flying to Singapore. She then drank some of the EBM from a flask.
Next, to several netizens’ humour, she drank the milk in both private and public settings, including her hotel room and a “random place”.
The fact that she managed to consume 4,450ml of EBM while not being a “major fan” of milk is even more astounding. Of course, she also chased it with large gulps of water afterwards.
Speaking to AsiaOne, Lim revealed that she had contacted the hotel ahead of time to inquire whether she could store her breast milk there. She explained that although they gave her the go-ahead, they made it very clear that they don’t encourage it because they can not really assure the quality of the breast milk.
Since returning to Singapore, Lim has disclosed that fresh EBM has little flavour apart from a subtle sweetness. But the first time she had frozen breast milk, she nearly passed out because it tasted “quite fishy.”
Regrettably, some individuals were upset with Jemie’s account of her experience. Some criticised her decision while others have denounced her behaviour as disgusting. One even questioned why she didn’t simply dump out her EBM.
There’s no disputing that being a travelling breastfeeding mother can be challenging, but we think Jemie definitely deserves some praise for persevering.