Tiruchi resident donates 300 litres of breast milk to milk bank in government hospital in Tiruchi

In an unusual achievement, Selva Brindha, a homemaker from Kattur, has donated 300 litres and 170 millilitres of her breast milk between April 2023 and February 2025 to the breast milk bank at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) in Tiruchi.

Ms. Brindha made the donation through Amirtham Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that collects breast milk from lactating mothers for donation to hospitals.

“I have two young children. After my daughter was born in 2023, my family supported my decision to donate my surplus milk. I feel happy to be able to help infants who need it. Preserving the milk is a time-consuming process but feels worth it, when you realise that it could help many children beyond your own,” Ms. Brindha told The Hindu.

“We have been recording Ms. Brindha’s donation every month over 22 months to our milk bank. We guide lactating mothers on how to preserve breast milk in their refrigerators, and collect it as a frozen product every month from their homes. It is then donated to the respective city’s government hospitals, where it is processed and made fit for consumption,” said Roopa Selvanayagi, founder of the NGO.

The MGMGH milk bank has been functioning since August 2015. It collects and processes milk from lactating mothers at hospitals and from other donors. Healthy mothers, who give birth at the hospital, after feeding their child, donate the excess milk to the bank.

A baby requires about 20 to 40 ml of mother’s milk 10 to 12 times a day. However, the number of mothers willing to donate their milk was still very low in Tiruchi, said S. Padmapriya, paediatrician at the MGMGH.

“Ms. Brindha has been donating to our milk bank regularly. Mother’s milk is the best source of nutrition for infants and is easily digestible. Brain and body growth and immunity level of breastfed children are higher than those of their peers who are fed on formula milk. A lack of awareness and familial pressure is holding back many lactating women from donating their excess milk,” said Dr. Padmapriya.

The donated milk is given to sick and underweight babies born at the hospital and those under treatment at neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).