Marta’s art helps nursing mums

A LOCAL mother-of-two has donated five original paintings – and one hospital grade electrical breast pump – to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.

Marta O’Leary from Blanchardstown only started painting in May of last year as a remedy to help battle her post-natal depression but she’s since gone on to sell over 50 paintings around Ireland.

And now she’s kindly decided to donate five of her original works after a nursing mother at the hospital encouraged her to do so.

“She told me that my paintings would be very good for the expressing rooms in the hospital,” Marta told the Northside People.

“The rooms are basically empty and cold, and it’s very hard to get the oxytocin flowing so I’m hoping that mothers who have sick, ill children and are in there expressing seven times a day will get a nice, warm feeling when they’re looking at the paintings.

“It’s very difficult for mothers to express milk when they are away from the babies in a strange environment because it’s hard to get the milk flowing, so the whole purpose of the paintings was to make them feel the love, make them feel closer and to make them think of their babies.”

Along with the paintings, Marta also helped fund a new hospital grade electrical breast pump after selling €870 worth of her paintings.

The pumps cost around €2,000, and with the help of another donor Our Lady’s was able to buy an extra one for mothers at the hospital.

Marta believes the extra pump is worth the investment as it allows mothers to stay with their kids during breastfeeding.

“Because there are not enough breast pumps, the mothers have to share them, and they basically have to go and sit in the rooms 10-12 times a day if they want to express the milk, which means they are away from their children,” she explained.

“Some mothers will also have to rent the breast pump, which means they pay for it from their own pocket. You can rent breast pumps from around €90 a month and I know that my €870 will not make a huge difference, and that it’s only one drop in the sea, but for me it’s worth it because it’ll just mean that there will be one more and it will help mothers and help raise awareness.”

Marta’s paintings can be seen online at www.martaoleary.com.

Jack O’Toole