PSA: Yondu Udonta didn’t know he was trafficking children to their deaths when he started that shit. This is confirmed by James Gunn himself.
Honestly, given Yondu’s backstory, I’m hard pressed to think Yondu – for all of his clear faults – would be the kind of character whom would willingly and knowingly sacrifice the lives of children so that they could be used as tools/batteries for a “"higher purpose”“ like Ego’s.
Heck, it’s in the movie itself, a couple of times. In Yondu’s very first scene he yells at Stakar “I told you, I didn’t know what was going on!” and even if you don’t believe him, later you get Ego saying “To ease his conscience, I told him none of the children would be hurt.” (And Ego doesn’t lie. He omits the truth a lot… but I don’t think he ever actually lies.)