On 9th August 2018, the Students' wing of MGIMS Bioethics Unit celebrated World Breastfeeding Week in the hospital premises.
The students united under a common objective and took a step forward by approaching the lactating mothers as well as the gestational women in the postnatal as well as antenatal wards of Maternity and Child Health Care, Kasturba Hospital; on successive days by dividing themselves into 9 pairs.
The students primarily strived to burst the bubble of myths that commonly surround conventional breastfeeding and they elaborated on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, not only to the baby but also to the mother and to the sheltering society. The students also suggested practical remedies for the same, using lucid linguistic approaches to make the mother feel more at ease thus allowing her to be more receptive and understanding.
In each pair, one of the students narrated an emotional story about an unlucky neonate who unfortunately lost his life due to the common malpractices of breastfeeding which are followed all over the nation. Also, pictorial expressions like charts and photos were used to stress upon the proper methodology of positioning and attachment to minimize most problems that mothers usually face if not followed.
This interactive session by the students was equally reciprocated by the enthusiasm of the mothers who all seemed keen to adopt and implement what was taught to them. The students were swept off their feet when a mother came up to them and said - "Aaj aap se baat karke bohut accha laga. Jo galti maine apne pehle bacche ke saath ki jiss vajah se vo kuposhit hogaya, voh iss baar nahi karungi. Aap log mere ghar zaroor aana kisi din."
Students were extremely elated and expressed their gratitude to Dr. N. Gangane, Dean, MGIMS for encouraging them in each and every event; to Dr. Poonam V. Shivkumar (Head of the Department, OBGY), Dr. Manish Jain( Head of the Department, Department of Paediatrics), Dr. Akash Bang, Dr. Smita Jategaonkar and whole Department of Paediatrics as well as OBGY for guiding and supporting the students in this noble cause.Dr. Manish Jain, Dr. Akash Bang, Dr. Samir Yelvatkar, Dr. J. Waghmare, Dr. Leena Chimurkar, Dr. Bansod, Dr. Shiv Joshi were present during this activity.
Dr. Akshay Yadav (President, Students' Wing MGIMS Bioethics Unit), Anik Pal (Vice-President, Students' Wing MGIMS Bioethics Unit), Sadaf Azam (Joint Secretary, Students' Wing MGIMS Bioethics Unit), Sarang Bombatkar(Executive Member, Students' Wing, MGIMS Bioethics Unit), Nikhil Honale(Secretary, Students' Wing, MGIMS Bioethics Unit),Shreya Namjoshi, Mimansa Dixit, Atharva Kokaje, Sneha Vaidya, Gunjan Rathi, Shambhuraje Patil, Ganesh Sarda, Dhara Rathi, Khushi Agroya, Nimisha Indugu, Priya Singh, Prerna Shelke, Shrishti Hiware, Suryadev Vrindavanam, Supriya Shinde, Pranali Gawai, Shubham Deshmukh, Radha Tompey, Vashishtha Zade, Sheena Betharia, Pinky, Yashika Hande, Samrudhi Bhalgat and Rahul Beria participated in the event.
