HYDERABAD: While mothers often talk about the joy of breastfeeding, did you know that some mothers just cannot breastfeed their child due to various reasons and this affects the health of the newborn? The contents of breast milk nourish the baby like no other buffalo or goat milk can. What about the health of such newborns then? As an answer to this question, Dhaatri Mothers Milk Bank, a public health initiative by Sushena Health Foundation was born in the city. Here, lactating mothers can store their breast milk to donate it to babies in need of it.
Many thought of this to be untrue or an unhealthy option but three doctors from the city proved them wrong. One of the founders of the noble initiative, Dr Santhosh Kumar Kraleti shares, “Just like a blood bank, if a baby needs about 130 ml of milk, non-lactating mothers can take the milk from many other mothers who are willing to donate it to the baby.” This free-of-cost initiative has several mothers in the city come forward to donate, after which it is pasteurised, stored and given to those in need.
Sharing what got them to work towards this cause, Dr Santhosh shares, “We were working on a project about maternal and newborn health in 2015, where we taught mothers about the importance of breastfeeding, especially within the golden hour. We were shocked to see that at least 50 per cent of the babies could not be breastfed due to various reasons. We were on the lookout for options and found none. That’s when two of my colleagues and I resigned from our jobs in 2016 to start work on a milk bank that became a reality in 2017.” Five years later, apart from the donor banks in Niloufer hospital in the city, there is another bank in Madhya Pradesh, while teams from six other states are being trained to replicate the same.
The road to success was not a smooth one for the three doctors. “One of the biggest challenges was that many people refused to believe that such an alternative works. But while some mothers were quick to adopt this, many educated mums had several questions that we patiently clarified. Things are much better today, with the facility in Bhopal now being handled by the government. There was initial resistance from many but after counselling, many mothers have been coming forward joyfully, multiple times.” He adds that such an alternative had always existed — when one woman couldn’t breastfeed her child, another mother always came to her aid. He recalls a case during the pandemic where a mother in Andhra Pradesh, when she found out she had excess milk, googled to find that she could donate it to the milk bank. “We spoke over the phone after which she stored her milk in the fridge to donate 43 litres that she had collected for over two and half months,” he shares.
Sindhuja, a mother and donor, speaks to CE to say, “I got to know that excess milk can be donated and came across this milk bank. It gives me a lot of satisfaction knowing that I am able to help many babies. I try and make sure that I also post about such things to spread awareness. I believe the government’s pro-active support would go a long way in creating awareness about the same.”Harika, another donor, says, “Being of some help in the nourishment of children other than mine is humbling. I hope more women come forward to do the same.”