Former badminton player and Olympian Jwala Gutta has revealed that she donated approximately 60 litres of breast milk to government hospitals in Hyderabad and Chennai during her first year of postpartum. Sharing photographs on X, she showcased dozens of neatly organised storage bags filled with breast milk.

"Just 100ml of donor milk can feed a tiny 1 kg baby for several days. This donation could potentially support dozens of infants in the NICU," she wrote. Jwala explained that many babies in the NICU do not have immediate access to their own mother's milk due to medical complications, stress, or premature birth. "Donor milk acts as a vital bridge, providing immunity and nutrition during those critical first days."

The World Health Organization recommends that low-birth-weight infants who cannot be fed their own mother's milk should be fed donor human milk where safe milk-banking facilities are available. Jwala's message aimed to destigmatise the process and highlight that donating is safe, screened, and desperately needed.

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