Mum launches business making jewellery out of breast milk, teeth and placenta

A mum-of-three has set up a business making jewellery out of breast milk, teeth and placentas after being inspired by her own experience of breastfeeding.

Kerry Miles, 46, struggled to breastfeed her first child, Harry, now 21, but had a much better experience with her second child, five-year-old Poppy.

To celebrate her experience, she made a ring out of her own breastmilk.

The former art teacher’s breastfeeding journey didn’t end there. Her daughter, Daisy, now four, ended up in hospital for five weeks with a vitamin B12 deficiency when she refused to be weaned and only started eating solids at a year old.

Miles now wants to make bespoke jewellery to serve as mementos of the journeys mums go through during pregnancy and beyond.

Miles started out making jewellery out of breast milk for her friends and family, and she eventually launched the brand Precious by Kerry.

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Miles found weaning her children to be an emotional experience and wanted to find a way to hang onto those memories - both positive and negative - however she could.

“When the breastfeeding journey ends, it’s very emotional. It’s like cutting the umbilical cord again,” she said.

“Although you celebrate because it’s the natural process, it can also be sad for mothers. It can be like a grieving for the closeness, but also a way of celebrating that it’s what has kept this little person alive. There’s a duality to it.”

She added: “I had struggled to breastfeed Harry for more than a couple of weeks, and there was a lot less support back then, so when it came to Poppy, I was determined to do more.

“I felt proud of myself, and wanted something to commemorate it, as a keepsake, so in collaboration with my friend Garvan Traynor, in 2016, we made the rings using my breast milk.”

The process is a rather tricky one and Miles’ son Harry - who was 17 at the time - helped with her creations. Between them they devised a way to reduce the breast milk into powder so it could be added and preserved in the jewellery.

Miles explained: “I was thinking about what I could use to encase and preserve the breast milk and stop it decaying.

“Harry came up with the idea of dehydrating the milk, so we would heat it up and reduce it to a powder and mix it with resin. Harry is very open minded and loves working out the mechanics of things.”

“He is not so involved in the business now, but I call him a co-founder, because he helped come up with this technique.”

Due to Daisy’s time in hospital, Miles didn’t feel confident in going back to her usual job, but wanted to build up her business at home.

Over time, she got to the point where she was able to create a studio in the garage of her home.

She’s now making pieces for mums all over the world, shipping around 50 pieces of jewellery out each week. She’s also diversified into creating jewellery made of placentas, locks of hair, first teeth and ashes.

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“With placenta jewellery, most people send the placenta ready prepared,” said Miles. “You might think it’s strange to want to make a placenta into jewellery, but it’s become normal for us.

“It’s like Marmite – some people love it and some hate it. I’ve met people who think it’s the weirdest thing to do, but it does not bother me.

“Keeping the placenta is symbolic. The nutrients in it keep the baby alive, and it keeps you close to the experience of birth.”

Miles doesn’t mind that some people have negative opinions about what she does.

She said: “Some people do think what I do is strange, but I don’t mind. Someone said to me once, ‘You’re the one that makes that disgusting jewellery,’ but I don’t worry about it at all.

“If people are talking about it, then they might talk to someone who thinks it’s actually a really nice idea and then I get some extra business.”