A brave mum who almost died whilst giving birth has donated 50 pints of breastmilk to sick babies after her newborn son was stillborn.
Sarah Lampley experienced placental abruption during her 38th week of pregnancy, just a week before her scheduled induction date, which resulted in her losing her unborn baby.
The mum-of-four was rushed to hospital in Georgia, USA when she discovered she was bleeding extensively.
Sarah was passing out due to the blood loss and was forced to undergo a blood transfusion before giving birth to her little boy, some 10 hours later, who had sadly died just before the traumatic birth.
Sarah and husband Lewis named their infant son Legend.
Doctors informed Sarah she had been bleeding for 24 hours, but her son had saved her life as his positioning in the womb prevented blood clots from moving to other parts of her body.
On returning home from the hospital, 34-year-old Sarah began to lactate which is when she decided to donate her breast milk in little Legend's memory.
Sarah said: "A few days after delivering my son, I still had to go through postpartum which was really hard for me, but what made me feel worse was the thought of throwing my milk away.
"I felt so grateful for people who donated blood when I was in the hospital, so I reached out to a couple of milk banks in our area to give them my breast milk."
Within 14 weeks, Sarah had donated over 800oz of the 'liquid gold' to the Mother's Milk Bank of Alabama, US - where it is currently being held for testing before it will go to premature infants.
"It brought purpose and comfort in my grief - knowing Legend's legacy could live on", she said.
Husband Lewis, who works in medical research, initially worried that donating her milk would be too emotionally challenging for Sarah, but he soon recognised how it was benefiting her.
She said: "My husband was worried that it would be hard, and he was protective of my feelings, but once he saw how happy it made me, he was on board."
The couple's three other sons, Lewis, 15, London, eight, and Leo, six, were also supportive of her decision.
Sarah said: "And when my sons asked who the milk was for, their little faces lit up and they said: 'Good job mummy.'
"They also call Legend a superhero for saving my life.
"It's amazing how resilient they are.
"They are great at talking about it and they like to draw pictures which we put in a memory box."
Sarah has documented her journey through a blog and social media pages, which has gained the attention of many other women who have been through a similar experience.
Not only has Sarah been contacted by mothers who have also lost babies, but she has now spoken with women whose premature children have benefited from milk donations.
She said: "It was really encouraging and kept me going.
"I've met some mums who donated because they didn't want their babies to be forgotten. I don't want that for Legend either.
"Over the years, I hope he will always be remembered as the hero that he was."
Sarah and her family are still coming to terms with the loss of Legend.
The mum-of-four revealed that she has not yet been able to go into the nursery which the couple had painted for his arrival.
But amidst the sadness, Sarah and Lewis have been sustained by the 'overwhelming love and support' from their family and friends.
"For us it was great to feel so much love and warmth and I'm amazed that we're doing as well as we are", Sarah said.
"It makes you realise that you do have strength inside, even if you didn't think it was there.
"I feel forever changed but I want to use this for good.
"I know that even in our darkest hours we can still be a light to others."
