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Hello, my name is Julie Roberts, I’m a university lecturer based in Melbourne. I’m asking for your help to support newbornsVIETNAM (https://www.newbornsvietnam.org/), a registered not-for-profit organization, purchase pasteurisers for a Human Milk Bank in Hanoi, Vietnam.
A Human Milk Bank means newborn babies can continue to receive the life-giving health insurance of breastmilk, despite being unable to be fed by their birth-mothers.
As more new mothers give birth to their babies while carrying the coronavirus, the demand for Human Milk grows. Newborns of coronavirus infected women quickly become too sick to be fed by their birth mothers.
We need your help now.
But to explain why it’s me asking you for this support, I need to tell you a story.
Twelve or so years ago, while working at RMIT University, I met two amazing people: Professor Garry Warne, then Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and a PhD student, Dr Hoang Tran. Dr Hoang is now the Deputy Director of the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children. We shared a passion for education, for providing young people with life-changing experiences, and for supporting Vietnam, a country that hosts an RMIT University campus.
To tell a long story short, Professor Garry and Dr Hoang worked with the Da Nang Department of Health to negotiate a way that student groups from RMIT could support the Da Nang's plans to enhance their paediatric care facilities.
Over the next couple of years, three separate teams of students visited the City, meeting with local people, exploring the hospital, and working to address challenges faced in the neonatal unit in particular. (I can still remember begging some over-enthusiastic engineering students to climb down from the windows they were checking the ventilation.)
The students' work contributed to the development and the construction of the neonatal unit of the new Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children.
Dr Hoang Tran worked closely with us on this project, completed her PhD in Melbourne, and returned to the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children and was instrumental in establishing Vietnam's first Human Milk Bank there.
Now newbornsVIETNAM, wants to help establish another Human Milk Bank in Hanoi.
Vietnam, like the rest of the world, is focused on addressing the pandemic. In the meantime, babies continue to be born and the onset of the coronavirus has increased demand for breastmilk.
The Human Milk Bank ensures that all babies get all the nutritional advantages of breast milk - together with the skin-to-skin contact that helps babies bond and connect to their carers. Dr Hoang Tran's research shows that the use of Human Milk Bank feeding leads to a greater increase in breastfeeding.
Human Milk needs to be tested and treated to ensure the safety and health of the newborn. Your contribution to this fundraising will go directly toward the purchase of a Human Milk pasteurizing machine to establish a Human Milk Bank in Hanoi.
Your contribution help ensure the health and wellbeing of newborn babies, babies who may otherwise begin life with less than optimal nourishment at this fragile time in the world.
The Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children was just one of many Vietnamese organisations that provided life-changing experiences to local and Australian students. Their generosity meant that our young adults were able to test themselves on the big stage of real-life, outside of the classroom. Will you help us now repay that generosity by supporting the development of a source of care and life-enhancing health for our newest members of humanity?
A Human Milk Bank means newborn babies can continue to receive the life-giving health insurance of breastmilk, despite being unable to be fed by their birth-mothers.
As more new mothers give birth to their babies while carrying the coronavirus, the demand for Human Milk grows. Newborns of coronavirus infected women quickly become too sick to be fed by their birth mothers.
We need your help now.
But to explain why it’s me asking you for this support, I need to tell you a story.
Twelve or so years ago, while working at RMIT University, I met two amazing people: Professor Garry Warne, then Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and a PhD student, Dr Hoang Tran. Dr Hoang is now the Deputy Director of the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children. We shared a passion for education, for providing young people with life-changing experiences, and for supporting Vietnam, a country that hosts an RMIT University campus.
To tell a long story short, Professor Garry and Dr Hoang worked with the Da Nang Department of Health to negotiate a way that student groups from RMIT could support the Da Nang's plans to enhance their paediatric care facilities.
Over the next couple of years, three separate teams of students visited the City, meeting with local people, exploring the hospital, and working to address challenges faced in the neonatal unit in particular. (I can still remember begging some over-enthusiastic engineering students to climb down from the windows they were checking the ventilation.)
The students' work contributed to the development and the construction of the neonatal unit of the new Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children.
Dr Hoang Tran worked closely with us on this project, completed her PhD in Melbourne, and returned to the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children and was instrumental in establishing Vietnam's first Human Milk Bank there.
Now newbornsVIETNAM, wants to help establish another Human Milk Bank in Hanoi.
Vietnam, like the rest of the world, is focused on addressing the pandemic. In the meantime, babies continue to be born and the onset of the coronavirus has increased demand for breastmilk.
The Human Milk Bank ensures that all babies get all the nutritional advantages of breast milk - together with the skin-to-skin contact that helps babies bond and connect to their carers. Dr Hoang Tran's research shows that the use of Human Milk Bank feeding leads to a greater increase in breastfeeding.
Human Milk needs to be tested and treated to ensure the safety and health of the newborn. Your contribution to this fundraising will go directly toward the purchase of a Human Milk pasteurizing machine to establish a Human Milk Bank in Hanoi.
Your contribution help ensure the health and wellbeing of newborn babies, babies who may otherwise begin life with less than optimal nourishment at this fragile time in the world.
The Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children was just one of many Vietnamese organisations that provided life-changing experiences to local and Australian students. Their generosity meant that our young adults were able to test themselves on the big stage of real-life, outside of the classroom. Will you help us now repay that generosity by supporting the development of a source of care and life-enhancing health for our newest members of humanity?