DOH issues guidelines for human milk banks

he Department of ealth D has come out with guidelines for the successful and safe establishment and implementation of human milk banks .

n a statement, the D said the anual of perations for will strengthen the promotion of breastfeeding.

he concept of human milk banking is especially critical in situations when breastfeeding directly from the mother is not possible, such as babies in difficult conditions, sickness or when the mother died,” the D said.

he D said pasteuri ed milk is also needed during emergencies.

t ser es to answer a tem porary need only until the infant can directly breastfeed from the mother,” the D said.

he D formulated the manual in coordination with local experts who ha e experi ence in human milk banking.

hey had set standard guidelines appropriate for the country.

t present, the three pio neers in human milk banking in the country are the hilip pine hildren s edical en ter, Dr. ose abella emorial ospital and the hilippine eneral ospital.

hey started the in , and , respec ti ely.

he at the ambo anga edical enter and in angkal, akati are now op erational, the D said.

he D has been promot ing exclusi e breastfeeding during the first six months of an infant s life.

rocessed milk or water must not be gi en to babies in this age group.

reastmilk has been pro en effecti e in reducing the risk of sepsis or blood infec tion, diarrhea, pneumonia, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome, skin aller gies and asthma among the newborns.

ased on a sur ey of the ood and utrition esearch nstitute of the Department of Science and echnology, the in crease in exclusi e breastfeed ing in the hilippines is low.

he sur ey showed that in , the rate was . percent, but it rose to . in and to . percent in .