Jankee Mehta's Emotional Breast Milk Donation Journey

Television actor Nakuul Mehta's wife, Jankee Mehta, recently shared her emotional experience donating 90 packets of her stored breast milk to a milk bank. The act of giving away the milk, which she had meticulously collected and stored since her son Rumi's birth, evoked profound feelings of love, discipline, and the physical journey of her body.

Donating breast milk involves a comprehensive process. Lactating mothers who have more milk than their own babies need undergo screening for infectious diseases like Hepatitis B and HIV. Strict aseptic procedures are mandatory during pumping and storage to maintain milk quality. Volunteers then transport the frozen milk, ensuring the cold chain is unbroken, to a pasteurization plant.

At the plant, the donated milk is pasteurized and tested for sterility before being refrozen. Further bacterial contamination checks are performed before the milk is supplied, prioritizing the oldest stock first. This valuable resource is primarily given to preterm infants, small for gestational age babies, and neonates undergoing surgery within the hospital. Outside the hospital, donor milk is available with a doctor's prescription to institutions lacking milk banking facilities.

Once received, the donor milk must be thawed gradually in a refrigerator and used within 24 hours to prevent bacterial contamination. This process ensures the safety and efficacy of the donated milk for fragile infants.