Union Health Ministry officials are calling for healthy lactating mothers to come forward and donate excess breast milk
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday launched the National Human Milk Bank at Lady Hardinge Medical College. This will be the first government-run human milk bank, and at present, the country’s largest.
The milk bank, called the Vatsalya — Maatri Amrit Kosh, has been established in collaboration with the Norwegian government and the Oslo University as part of the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI).
Even as the central government is in the process of formulating guidelines for milk banks in India, the Health Ministry has appealed to lactating mothers to donate breast milk to the bank, which will have a lactation counselling centre, too. The centre will also serve as a training and demonstration site for other milk banks to be established under the ministry.
“We seek donations from healthy lactating women, who have excess breast milk after feeding their infants. The donation will help sick neonates in initial stages of starting feeds,” said a senior health ministry official.
“Beneficiaries (of the milk bank) will mainly be premature babies (born below 32 weeks of gestation) and IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) infants who suffer poor growth in the mother’s womb caused by poor maternal nutrition or lack of adequate oxygen supply,” the official said.
Milk collected through donations will be pasteurised (process of removing bacteria and virus) using specialised equipment. This pasteurised milk will be tested to make sure that it is free of any infection and then stored in containers in hospital-grade deep freeze. This infection-free milk can be dispatched for preterm infants when needed.
Human milk has many advantages over formula milk. Breast milk provides optimum protein, energy, and micro and macro nutrients for the newborn. It contains secretory immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, and lysozymes that enhance immunity in the premature infant.
Human milk is also known to decrease frequency of diarrhoea, respiratory infections and necrotising enterocolitis (bowel tissue death), and lower the incidence of infant mortality. It also reduces the incidence of chronic illnesses like obesity, hypertension, diabetes, allergic diseases in adulthood.
Lactating mothers who breastfeed also benefit as it is known to reduce risk of breast cancer.
“Though the potential of mother’s milk for a child is well known, breastfeeding rates are low in India. The early initiation of breastfeeding is only 40 per cent, even when institutional deliveries have increased to 78.9 per cent,” said CK Mishra, Secretary, Union Health Ministry.
Who can donate
Healthy lactating women who have excess breast milk can donate, provided:
They do not smoke
Are not on long-term medications
Are free of infections such as HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis, TB
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