Human milk bank proposed at Trauma Centre on KGMU campus

LUCKNOW: Aiming to cut down neonatal mortality and infant morbidity rates, a human milk bank (HMB) has been proposed at the Trauma Centre on the KGMU campus.

The bank, which will be first in UP, is proposed on the fifth floor of the trauma centre to facilitate children who are unable to get mother’s milk after birth due to some reason.

A meeting of the KGMU officials was held on Thursday to discuss the issue.

Statistics say 13% of under-5 deaths could be prevented by breastfeeding alone, hence HMB will help reduce deaths of children in dire need of mother’s milk.

There will be two collection centres – one at NICU and the other at Queen Mary’s Hospital. Counsellors will motivate mothers to donate milk that will be fed to newborns who are unable to get the same.

A large number of newborns do not get mother’s milk after birth and there are several reasons for it including inability of mothers to produce milk or their death at the time of delivery.

“Powder milk does not have the properties and qualities of

mother’s milk, hence such a bank will help reduce mortality rate,” said Prof NS Verma, faculty in-charge, KGMU media cell.

Dr Sudhir Singh, also faculty

incharge of the media cell, said the bank is being developed under the comprehensive lactation management centre.

It is estimated that 30-50% of pre-terms in sick newborn care

unit and 15-20 % of full-term babies (low birth weight, caesarean births) need donor human milk to meet the short or long-term lack of mothers’ milk.

Maharashtra and Rajasthan have HMBs. In fact, the milk bank in Mumbai was Asia’s first human milk bank that started in 1989.

Apart from India, other places in the world that have a network of such banks are Brazil, Spain, Australia, Portugal, Europe, South Africa, Cape Verde Islands and Latin America.

Brazil has an extensive network of 210 milk banks. In 2011, 165,000 litres of breast milk was donated by some 1,66,000 mothers, and provided to nearly 1,70,000 babies.

The Brazilian and IberoAmerican Network of Human Milk Banks coordinates these efforts. Donors must be healthy and not taking any medication. The Brazil effort is part of an initiative that has reduced infant mortality in the country by 73% since 1990s.