NICU babies across the state are getting a lifeline thanks to one Rio Grande Valley mom.

Alyssa Martinez is a first-time mother. She gave birth to baby Matthew nearly three months ago.

"I pump milk every three hours, even through the night, so I don't get more than three hours of sleep at a time," Martinez said.

Martinez is producing far more milk than Matthew can drink.

"I didn't want to throw it away because that's a waste of milk someone else can use," Martinez said.

She's not wasting any of it; instead, she's saving every drop.

"We kept shoving it in the freezer until we couldn't anymore and then I was like, 'oh dad, can we put some of it in your freezer?' Then we went to my husband's mom, then we got a deep freezer," Martinez said.

Martinez's supply isn't just for her own child. She donates it to the WIC milk bank in San Benito.

So far this month, she's donated nearly seven gallons of breast milk.

"We've done a 1,540 ounces so far," Martinez said.

Becoming a donor took nearly three weeks and the process is lengthy.

"For a physical, and they ask you to get some forms from your doctor, the doctor signs off, send it back, then you have to get blood drawn from a lab that they pick and then they do drug testing and then that gets sent back at them, and we just wait," Martinez said.

Cameron County WIC Program Breastfeeding Coordinator Carmen Salas says all the milk they receive is sent to a milk bank in Austin where it's pasteurized before being distributed to hospitals across the state, including Cameron County.

"Breastmilk has life cells and has all the nutrients that a baby needs and is so wonderful that babies that are in the hospital can receive this milk from other mothers," Salas said.

Currently, only three mothers in Cameron County are registered donors. Health officials hope more mothers will step forward.

For Martinez, the decision is simple. She knows it could help the tiniest patients get a stronger start.

"I can imagine what they're feeling with them being so small and little and how scared they are and then having to worry about finances and having to buy milk it was just, I couldn't imagine that," Martinez said.

There are two milk depots in Cameron County, Valley Regional Medical Center and Cameron County WIC. The Cameron County Public Health Milk Depot is located at 1390 West Expressway 83 in San Benito.

For more information about how to become a breastmilk donor with Milk Bank Austin, click here.