About Us
The Inception of Mothers Milk NZ
Mothers Milk NZ (MMNZ) was established in 2009 as a milk sharing page and later became a Charitable Trust in 2013. A few months later, Emma Ryburn-Phengsavath birthed her first babies - twins. Emma gained first hand experience as she sought donor milk for her own babies initial days, highlighting what it felt like waiting for a response to her call for desperate help. Thankfully a friend came to her aid 2 days later.
By the time her children were 3 years old, Emma regained some energy back from her hectic 'twin life'. It was at this point she answered a desperate call from a mother living Christchurch seeking dairy free donor milk for her baby who was reacting to the formula she was feeding him. Her baby was allergic to cow's milk protein, as well, this mother also had low glandular breast tissue. This call to action prompted Emma to drive around Auckland collecting dairy free donor milk and she sought out a frozen foods carrier to transport the milk down to Christchurch.
This action catapulted MMNZ into view and quickly attracted more mothers seeking donor milk.
By the end of the year Emma was overwhelmed with the effort required assisting so many desperate families, so in December 2017 she called for help and formed the Ambassadors of Mothers Milk NZ, a passionate collective of nurturing women who volunteer their time for strangers, so that they can share nature's liquid gold to all those who seek it.
Would you like to volunteer?
We are seeking new ambassadors to assist throughout New Zealand.
All you need is a passion for sharing breast milk and to be able to spare some time each week (about 5 - 10 hours per week).
The ideal position is for: stay-at-home mums or dads, part-time workers, semi-retired or fully retired.
You MUST have prior knowledge or are willing to learn about social media for communication with our donors and recipients and have reasonable computer literacy.
Meet The Admin Team
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Emma Ryburn-Phengsavath
Hi I am Emma, I am passionate about sharing donor breast milk. I strongly believe health equity for all babies begins with access to breast milk. I saw it as unfair that not all babies have access to donor milk and decided to make it my life mission to breakdown those barriers
