CHENNAI: A group of young volunteers has been working tirelessly throughout the lockdown to ensure hundreds of newborn babies at the Egmore Government Institute of Child Health and Children's Hospital in Chennai don't go hungry by sourcing 100 litres of breast milk over the past four months.
The Thangadhiravam Breastmilk Donation is a group formed by three lactating mothers -- Baby Shree Karan, Koushalya Jagadeesh, and Ramyaa Sankaranarayanan -- to donate mothers’ milk for newborns at the ICH’s breast milk bank. Breast milk banks were launched in the State by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
The hospital staff is full of praise for the group for ensuring the bank was kept full despite the restrictions on movement and transport during the lockdown. "These volunteers were extremely helpful in this period. Their support helped us feed the babies,” said D Akila Devi, nursing coordinator, Neonatology Department at the Institute of Child Health.
According to her, the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has an average of 52-60 babies on admission. “Many of these babies are separated from their mothers who may be at home, or at other hospitals being treated for complications that came up during delivery,” she said.’
During the lockdown, families of these babies were unable to regularly bring the mothers’ milk to the hospital to feed the newborns. “Daily at least 10 babies would be in need of milk and we have to feed them 10-12 times a day. One baby would require a minimum of 10ml for one feed," explained Akila.
This is where the group stepped in. They coordinated donations from lactating mothers while a handful of dedicated volunteers would pick up the milk and drop it off at the hospital.
“We managed to donate 98 litres of breastmilk during the lockdown only because it was a team effort,” said Shree Karan. “Many mothers couldn't go to hospitals to donate because of fear of contracting infection and restrictions on movement. This pick-and-drop service helped a lot. We need more awareness about this," she said.
M Ashok Kumar, a college student who has roped in other students to help, was one of those delivering the milk to the hospital. He admitted there were difficulties. During the complete lockdown days, all main roads in Chennai were barricaded making it difficult to reach the hospital. “I had to take a detour. Police also used to stop us, but we had a permission letter from the hospital,” said Ashok.
For K Arun Raj, a volunteer, the problem was at home. "Whenever I have to drop off the milk at the hospital, I tell my mother something else to get out of the house. She still doesn’t know I am going to the hospital for this. She is afraid I might contract an infection from hospitals," he smiled.
Aadhithyan Ganesan, another volunteer, also had to overcome opposition from his family.
"My family, especially my mother, did not approve of me going to the hospital when the Covid-19 cases were at the peak. But I asked her that if everyone started thinking like that and stayed home, who will help people in need?” he recalled. “She understood eventually but she is still not fully convinced," he admitted.
In recognition of their valiant efforts, the ICH recently presented the volunteers an award during a World Breastfeeding Week event recently.