When Bhavana, a young mother of two from Idukki in Kerala, heard that many babies had lost their mothers in the Wayanad landslide, she immediately knew what to do.

She would give them the best possible succour she can: her own breast milk, meant for her own baby.

The mother of a four-month-old and a four-year-old left for Wayanad, 350km away, on Thursday along with her husband and Youth Congress worker Sajin Parekkara, who is backing her to the hilt.

Bhavana was on Thursday being hailed across Kerala for "sharing the nectar of God", and her gesture was being described as "way above any help that is reaching Kerala".

"I am the mother of two little children. I can imagine the situation when children are left without their mothers. That’s what drove me to this decision," Bhavana told a television channel from her home in Idukki before leaving. "My husband was very supportive when I told him."

Idukki lies on the same stretch of the Western Ghats as Wayanad but far to the south.

The family set off in Sajin’s 4x4 cargo pickup vehicle in which he transports goods for a living.

"Several infants have survived the landslides although they lost their parents. So we took this decision to help such infants," Sajin told the TV channel.

Their decision has inspired at least one more couple to offer similar help.

"Even I have little children. My wife is ready to offer breast milk to infants in the relief camps in Wayanad," a man named Arun Manuel Antony commented on Sajin’s Facebook page.

On Bhavana’s gesture, Antony said: “These are the most heart-touching words. These words are way above any help that is reaching Kerala.”

Another Facebook user, K.M. Basheer Clappana, wrote: “The people of Kerala will never forget this. You are sharing the nectar of God. Let you and your familybe blessed.”

Satheesh Aranmula, a third netizen, commented: “Your decision to share the breast milk meant for your own children with orphaned infants cannot even be called humanity. New words have to be created.”

Two doctors suggested that Bhavana’s gesture would be of great help tomotherless infants.

“We recommend breast milk as the sole food for up to four months,” C. Namratha, a doctor from Bengaluru who is currently based in Mumbai, told The Telegraph.

“It’s perfectly fine to breastfeed children of other mothers. We now have breast milk banks to help feed infants in similar situations.”

Dr Vinay Manjunath, a Bengaluru-based forensic sciences specialist, said it’s “a very noble act to donate breast milk for infants who need it” but cautioned that the donors should be tested for communicable diseases.