When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out last year, Sudheshna K. moved to her home town, Guntur, along with her husband. The 30-year-old, who used to work as a lecturer in Hyderabad, had her delivery in April 2020.
The new mother found out about breast milk donation following a consultation with her doctor. Motivated by the idea of saving tiny lives, Ms Sudheshna collected and stored excess milk over a period of time in the deep freezer. She even went the extra mile, literally, by travelling to another district for a blood test to find out if she was free of infections.
Earlier this year, she dispatched a whopping 20 litres of breast milk to Dhaatri Mothers Milk Bank at Niloufer Hospital here.
“We informed one of our volunteers in Guntur and the milk was brought to Hyderabad in a box filled with dry ice,” said Director (Operations) at Dhaatri Milk Bank, Kashinadh Lakaraju.
26 mothers to be feted
Founder-director of the milk bank, Santosh Kumar Karleti said 26 mothers who donated breast milk to help newborns get the crucial nutrients for survival and growth would be felicitated with ‘Maa Yashoda’ award. The awards would be presented by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at Raj Bhavan on Sunday.
Besides them, four health staff from Niloufer Hospital would be presented with ‘Maa Pana Dai’ award. A chartered accountant who helped generate funds for the milk bank will be felicitated too.
Dr Santosh said overall, 31,600 mothers have donated 1,052 litres of pasteurised milk which was distributed free of cost for feeding 9,795 babies.