Of all the things that have taken a hit due to the pandemic, donation of breast milk has been one of the major ones. The Human Breast Milk Bank of Sion Hospital, one of the oldest in Asia, saw a huge dip in donors since the beginning of 2020. As per data, while in 2018, 1,000 litres were donated, in 2020 the number went down to 526 litres. This year, till date, only 325 litres have been donated.

Sion Hospital’s milk bank, which was started on November 27, 1989, usually gets 800 to 1,200 litres every year (about 3 to 4 litres each day). “The dip was predominantly seen at the peak of the first wave, especially because nobody wanted to visit the hospital,” said Dr Swati Manerkar, neonatologist, who heads the milk bank at Sion Hospital.