pink samaritan
New mothers experience a range of difficulties after giving birth. Sometimes they don’t lactate, other times, their babies don’t latch on to the breast and some mothers can’t store enough milk. There are several milk banks that help out people in such situations but how does one even approach them? Most moms are clueless about these centres. This is perhaps why they need a group like Natural Parenting Community, a Chennai based not for profit Facebook group that’s created to help mothers.
New moms who’ve joined the group have been able to save lives of several babies who are in need of breast milk. Meet Sharanaya Govindarajalu, the 32-year-old who donated 100 to 150 litres of milk after delivering her second child. The mother of two joined the Facebook group, found support from group members and learnt about donating breast milk to unknown infants desperately in need of it.
For Govindarajalu, this cause became more personal and immediate. She beast fed her child for six months and visited the Kanchi Kamakoti Child’s Trust Hospital for the next two months to donate her milk.
She said she was horrified by how pre-term babies were fed at hospitals. Govindarajalu couldn’t bare to look at babies being fed with syringes and needles and decided to do something about it, according to Times of India. And thankfully, she found more mothers like her in the Natural Parenting Community.
The page, which has more than 3,000 members, donate their breast milk to hospitals voluntarily or visit the centre whenever the hospital makes a request. The community, which was launched in March 2016 recently launched a breast donation campaign and has become an active part of Chennai mom’s lives.
On the Facebook page, there are several tips that help expecting mothers with their pregnancy. The community also holds events on various occasions like Mother’s Day and provides a platform for new moms to connect with each other.