Breast milk bank in Nghe An
(Baonghean.vn) - Sharing love and sharing breast milk are commendable acts that members of the Breastfeeding Association in Nghe An are quietly undertaking. This is also a place for mothers to share valuable experiences about raising and caring for their children with breast milk…
Van Anh, the founder of the Breastfeeding Association in Nghe An, always keeps her phone online 24/7. Checking her Facebook page reveals numerous messages from mothers, mostly heartfelt pleas for help: "Hi, my baby is one month old and I don't have enough milk. Can you help me find a milk source?"
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| Members of the Nghe An Breastfeeding Association participated in the "Breastfeeding Journey Across Vietnam" program in Vinh City. |
A member from Hanoi also shared the story of Mr. Nguyen Tu Thuc (Nam Son commune, Do Luong district), who is currently working in Hanoi. This is a very heartbreaking situation, as within just 15 days he had to endure the deaths of both his mother-in-law and his wife. Even more tragically, his second daughter, who is less than a month old, is still without breast milk.
Due to extreme hardship, with elderly parents, a sister affected by Agent Orange, and two very young children, Mr. T struggled daily to provide for his family. At the time his story was shared, he was in dire straits, having to send his daughter to live with her paternal grandparents in Do Luong. The money he had saved for his wife's childbirth was dwindling due to the high cost of formula milk.
Ms. Van Anh said: "Abroad, breast milk banks have existed for a long time. However, in Vietnam, the concept of expressing breast milk and freezing it in the refrigerator for later use is completely new. Vietnamese people are also increasingly favoring formula milk over breast milk, so through this activity, we want people to better understand the safety and effectiveness of breast milk." To store breast milk, most new mothers freeze some of their excess milk in the refrigerator. This allows mothers to manage their time effectively and store milk for a long time, even when their milk supply has dried up. Helping each other in difficult situations has become commonplace. The association also has supportive members. In emergencies, they will reach out to hospitals and other new mothers to mobilize milk donations... |
Each story shared on the Breastfeeding Association's news page represents a different situation and fate, and the members of the Nghe An Breastfeeding Association are ready to support and help these less fortunate parents. For example, in the case of Mr. Thuc in Do Luong, after his story was shared online, many mothers voluntarily donated a portion of their breast milk to support the baby. Furthermore, some even established a fund, contributing 5,000 VND per person per month to help until the baby turns one year old.
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| A refrigerator used to store frozen breast milk by a resident in Nghi An commune, Vinh City. |
Compared to other provinces and cities, the Breastfeeding Association in Nghe An was established later, but that doesn't mean it's any less active. Through the sharing and tireless efforts of its members, many babies orphaned at birth, many families adopting children, and many mothers experiencing postpartum "crisis" have found a source of life for their children. Currently, the Nghe An Breast Milk Bank still has a considerable amount of breast milk stored and is ready to provide it to families in need at any time.
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| Members of the Nghe An Breastfeeding Association pose for a photo with the founder during the 2015 Breastfeeding Journey across Vietnam. |
The stories of the breastfeeding mothers in the Nghe An Breastfeeding Association also show us the sharing, community spirit, humanistic feelings, and the "mutual support and compassion" of the Vietnamese people.
The founder of the Vietnam Breastfeeding Association, Trinh Tuan, is also from Nghe An. He is a former student of Do Luong 1 High School and was part of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology's robot team that won the Asia-Pacific Robocon Championship in 2006.
Two years ago, his wife unexpectedly passed away a few days after giving birth to their child. Out of love for his child, he shared his story on his personal Facebook page to ask for breast milk for his baby. The single father's arduous journey of begging for milk to feed his child subsequently touched the hearts of netizens and became a deeply moving story… From this experience of tirelessly begging for breast milk for his child, Trinh Tuan began to think about connecting a network of mothers with surplus milk to share with other less fortunate babies. With the "Milk Across Vietnam" journey, each year the group members will embark on a long trip through many provinces and cities to promote breastfeeding and gradually establish a breast milk bank nationwide. |
My Ha
