Facebook connect helps young moms donate breast milk

A few months ago, 33-year-old Wahida Satish Kumar, one of the administrators of NPC and mother of a two-year-old daughter, received a call from a doctor friend who needed breast milk for a child. “I put it out on the Facebook page and the response was good. There was a mother from Valasaravakkam who was willing to volunteer but she was in no position to travel to Nungambakkam where the hospital is located. We made arrangements where someone picked up the milk and dropped it to another member’s place in Nungambakkam who then gave it to the hospital. It took only a couple of hours to arrange for the milk,” said Wahida. 

Experts say that breast milk contains antibodies that safeguard new-borns from viruses and bacteria and also keep infections, respiratory illnesses and diarrhoea at bay. “Doctors also claim that donor breast milk plays an important role in keeping the babies healthy. It also reduces the rate of infections among premature babies. There are some mothers who donate five times a week,” said Wahida, adding, “We have to be careful while transporting the milk. It should be kept in a fridge. When being transported, it must be kept in a thermal bag on an ice pack.” 

Most of these working mothers ensure they keep up the commitment. For Instance, Sharanya Govindarajalu is a businesswoman and a mother of two. “I travel a lot and use a breastfeeding pump to store milk for my seven-month-old child. When I do it for her, I also pump for donations,” Sharanya said, adding, “I joined the Facebook community when I was pregnant with my second child. Here I further understood the need for breast feeding children until the age of 6 months. I also came to realise there are pre-term babies who are in need of breast milk and hospitals in the city are in need of donated milk.” There are currently nine government breast milk banks in the state - one of the earliest among them being at the Institute of Child Health, Egmore.