Breast milk used to create unique jewelry for moms in Ontario

An Ontario woman helps moms remember those first special months with their babies through unique breast milk jewelry.

Halton Hills-based jeweller Andie Field started making breast milk jewelry about a year and a half ago.

Field said she started out making jewelry with cremated remains after her grandfather died.

“I just wanted to make something for my grandma,” Field told INsauga.com.

She loved the way the piece turned out so she continued making cremains jewelry. But soon both local people and Etsy customers asked if she could also create breast milk jewelry.

“I had to learn how to do it because I had so many people asking about it,” Field said.

Having a local place to get this type of jewelry is important for many moms and Field said there are only a handful of people doing this type of work in Canada.

“A lot of people were really excited for it because most people don’t want to mail their milk to the (United) States,” she said.

While she is not a mom, Field said she understands why the milk is important.

“Breastfeeding is a big journey of being able to provide for your new baby,” she said.

When the journey ends, many mothers feel sad.

“It’s almost like losing that bond with your baby,” she said. “So having that piece of jewelry to preserve such a sentimental memory is really exciting for them,”

Field said the moms often cry when they pick up the piece.

“I get a lot of tears,” she said.

One particularly emotional piece was for a mother whose baby did not survive. The mother was producing breast milk and wanted a reminder of her child.

“She had no way to remember physically that experience that she went through,” Field said.

Field created a breastmilk ring and earrings.

“She was just blown away,” said Field.

When starting out Field needed to learn the process to make breast milk preservable. With some research Field found a substance in the U.S. that preserves breast milk. The milk becomes a dry powder, which is then mixed with resin to create a gem. The colour of the final piece is unique to each person.

“Everyone’s milk is different,” she said.

There are shades of white to a light yellow. Field can add to the mixture if people don’t like the natural tone.

Not every mother is able to breastfeed so there options to include pieces of clothing, baby blankets or other items into a jewelry piece, she said. She can also incorporate preserved parts of the umbilical cord or placenta into a resin gem.

The work is rewarding for Field as she has always liked to do things for people. Creating something special for people after a loved one has died is meaningful.

“They feel like they are bringing that memory or that person or loved one, that connecting with them everywhere they go,” she said. “So it just feels really great to provide that for someone.”

For more information, see the Remember Me In Resin website.